As part of the holiday season, we were asked to give talks on our favorite stories of Jesus and apply them to our own lives. There are so many favorites, but I have narrowed them down to three which all demonstrate action by the followers of Christ:

Having Faith in Christ

We learn in Matthew 15:24 that Peter and various other disciples of Christ were “in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.” Amidst these turbulent winds they saw Christ walking out towards them on the water. At first, they didn’t recognize him, but Peter eventually asked to come to him in Matthew 15:28-31:

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

As is evident in this story, we may use many reasons to excuse why we choose to not have faith in Christ. Some don’t even make the first step towards Christ. Others make the first step but lose faith when encountering turbulence. My whole life, I have been prone to motion sickness. I have been on cruise ships where the winds were more “turbulent” some days than others. With today’s medicine, I am lucky enough to be able to take motion sickness medicine at the beginning to dampen any symptoms; however, when the winds are their worst, I have really felt sick. If I were on a boat similar to Peter where the winds affect smaller ships much more, I am not sure that I would have even thought to come to Christ as I likely would be overcome by motion sickness.

What are our reasons for not coming to Christ? Are we scared, distracted, or downright rebellious? We learn that Satan is our accuser in Revelations 12:10: “for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” How many of us lack faith because we feel we are not good enough? How many of us rebel because we feel accused? It is easy to get sidetracked and lost because Satan is constantly trying to imitate Christ in that “he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). He is so good at what he does that he “…deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do” (Revelation 13:14). He is our accuser.

On the other hand, Christ doesn’t want this. Christ is our advocate. He is there to hold our hands and guide us if we are willing. In Spanish, the word Advocate is translated to Abogado which also means lawyer. When Amy and I worked with a lawyer to create a last will and testament, we explained in laymen’s terms what we want in the will. Our lawyer was able to create our last will and testament with all the necessary legal jargon that is always so hard for us to understand. Christ does the same. There is much we don’t understand now, but he is that liaison to lift us from where we are to what we may become.

I want you to answer a hypothetical question in your mind. If there were two teams of your favorite sport in front of you and you were given the opportunity to pick which team to play on, which would you pick? Now, if I told you which team would be the winning team at the end of the season, would this change which team you pick? When it comes to the gospel, we know the winning team even if that team doesn’t win every game. In an email correspondence from Jeffery R. Holland to John Bytheway on June 1, 2004, he stated:

“The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team’s jersey we want to wear.”

Elder Oaks in his April 2004 conference address titled, “Preparation for the Second Coming” further stated:

“To borrow a metaphor from the familiar world of athletic competitions, we do not know when this game will end, and we do not know the final score, but we do know that when the game finally ends, our team wins.”

We know Christ wins in the end! Throughout my life, I have experienced the turbulent winds of gospel topics directly from close family members. However, two apparently similar paths with subtle differences at the beginning have resulted in vast chasms of differences over the years. The peace and happiness I have experienced from continual faith in Christ is night in day compared to the heartache and misery of letting the accuser bring me down.

Serving with Love Towards Others

After we plant our feet on the solid ground of faith in Christ, we should turn our focus to helping others. The next story I wish to talk about is the man sick with palsy, or a type of paralysis, in Mark 2:1-4: 

1 And again [Jesus] entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

The only way these people could get this man to Christ is through the roof because the sheer number of people in the crowd. Instead of focusing on the part where Christ forgives him of his sins first and then heals him, I want to turn my focus of this story elsewhere. I think one of the most faith promoting parts of this story are the friends and/or family members that helped. These people knew what Christ could do and had faith in Him. The problem was how do they get near him. Do we encounter roadblocks such as people or things in our way incentivizing us or guiding us contrary to the gospel? These roadblocks may be disheartening and sometimes it may be easy to just give up or say forget it, but if we push through, we too can have healing experiences like this man. One key principle to help us is to engage in service. As we serve others, some may not want our help but desperately need it. Others are more willing to accept our help. Sometimes we need to be creative in how we lift and serve others, but most importantly we need to serve with love.

My wife constantly reminds me through her actions what it means to be a true disciple of Christ. I frequently question why she does some things even pointing out how they are not received as I would expect; however, even with my adversity, she continues anyway. I can’t tell you how many times people who she has served have reached out to her for help or expressed how much they appreciate her. In many cases, it was in situations that I would least expect it. I believe this is because they feel Amy is genuine and loves them regardless of their situation or beliefs. In these moments, I know I need to repent and do better.

If we are in a situation to serve others, let us serve. If we are in need of service, let us be served. I have thought of a few questions to consider in our dealings with others:

• Do we use/overuse sarcasm that could belittle others, or do we use uplifting words to elevate them?
• Do we criticize others instead of sitting down with them to truly see what is going on in their life?
• Do we harbor ill-feelings towards family/friends/others, or do we quickly repent and ask forgiveness?
• Do we turn down compliments because of our own insecurities, or do we accept them and recognize them as genuine?

I will be first to admit that I can be better. Just yesterday I made some sarcastic remarks that I am not proud of. I quickly realized and apologized; however, this doesn’t erase any hurt feelings I may have caused. As we think of Christ, we will begin to think who we can serve and how we can treat others better. Now, I want to put out the caveat that I am not encouraging us to continue in unhealthy relationships; however, we can still forgive in these situations. As I have served others, I have come home feeling much more accomplished than after most other things I accomplish in life. 

Expressing Gratitude

The third story I want to focus on is that of the ten lepers that were healed. More specifically, I want to focus on only one. We read in Luke 17:15-19:

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

A third key principle after having faith and serving others is to be full of gratitude. Gratitude not only shows others that we appreciate them, but also has been proven to have many lasting effects on people including:

• Better sleep
• Better immunity
• Higher self-esteem
• Decreased stress
• Lower blood pressure
• Less anxiety and depression
• Stronger relationships
• Higher levels of optimism

Do you feel anxious, depressed, stressed, or lack confidence? If so, when was the last time you expressed gratitude? The Samaritan was healed first, but it wasn’t until after expressing gratitude that he was made “whole.” To be made whole has several meanings in the dictionary. Some of my favorites include being healed, free of defects or impairment, mentally and emotionally sound, and complete. In Matthew 5:48, we are command to “Be ye therefore perfect…” However, better replacements for the word perfect are to be complete, finished, or fully developed. Gratitude is critical for us to fulfill this commandment.

In some cases, we may feel the moment to express gratitude has passed; however, it is never too late to show our gratitude. Also, expressing gratitude may not necessarily be so much about others as much as it is about ourselves.

I admit that I could be better at expressing gratitude; however, when I tell my wife or kids how grateful I am for something they did or who they are, they are more motivated to continue doing/being those things. Additionally, I feel much better and negative thoughts about prior experiences quickly flee my mind. When I think of those who are good at expressing gratitude, they are among my best friends.

Overcoming All

Even though I chose to highlight these three stories of action, clearly the most important stories of Christ are about his crucifixion, atonement, and resurrection. These are central to why many of these people acted in the first place. The trust in healing and a better life motivated many and can motivate us.

In Revelations 12:10, the same scripture that we learn Satan is our accuser, we learn that, “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ…”

Christ suffered for our pains, afflictions, infirmities, sicknesses, and sins (Alma 7:11-14), so we can have immortality freely and eternal life with Him if we so choose. Let us choose Him this day especially during this season. In doing so, I know we are happier despite our circumstances. I know it is possible to be happy outside the gospel, but that happiness is trivial compared to the elevated happiness that Jesus can offer us.

Life is a journey. We make mistakes, we have regrets, but rather than dwell on these mistakes and regrets, let’s think of these as learning experiences that can bring us closer to Christ through actions of (1) having faith in him, (2) serving others with love, and (3) expressing gratitude.

Testimony