i bore my testimony today in church. i usually don't, because i teach sunday school every other week and people hear my testimony at the end of the lesson. twice a month is more often that if i got up every fast sunday, and that seemed like enough "jeff" for the ward.at least, it did until a few months ago, when a girl came to the pulpit and shared the similar feeling of not wanting to be a "regular" up there. then she noted that if she did get up every month to bear her testimony, that would only be twelve times in a year. pretty sad, really.
walking home along 900 east many years ago, my friend and i stopped at the stoplight, waiting to cross. as missionaries, our testimony was kept exercised and polished, able to come forth at a moment's notice. now that the black tag was off, we didn't do it as much, yet didn't see a reason why we shouldn't. in the twilight of the evening, on the corner of the sidewalk, dane and i bore our testimonies of what we knew to be true.
our testimony needs to be continually used, stretched, and shared. president harold b. lee noted that it is as fragile as a moonbeam, and needs to be recaptured each day. president boyd k. packer told us to bear testimony not only of things we know are true, but of things that we hope are true. bearing our testimony is a wonderful way to repent ourselves, as our words can save another and erase our own sins.
i once heard of a rabbi speaking at byu. he said that many people there probably looked at him felt bad that he couldn't eat pork. rather than being upset that he couldn't enjoy a delicious pork chop, the rabbi observed that God was so interested and concerned with him and his life that he even cared about what the man ate.
God is concerned with us and watches us. He not only sees what we do or don't eat, but the decisions we make. He knows the choices we make in our hearts, the battles we fight and the hard choices we make that no one sees. He sees our sacrifices, our extended kindnesses, and the invisible acts of service and love that we give to those that seem to go unnoticed.
heck, you can bare your testimony over a text message.
4 comments:
you are amazing
I'm learning that the best way is to incorporate testimony into every other conversation, instead of "bearing" it all by itself in no other context. Everyday conversations can be more palpable than scheduled once a month-isms anyway.
:)
-Jekakah
Get yourself some kids, you'll get to bear it all the time.
The best is how their words testify of gospel truths in their purest form.
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