"Sure Foundations"

 


What is a foundation? Why do we need one?
 Have you ever stopped to think about how necessary strong foundations are? What if a building had no foundation? It would crumble and fall to the ground. Well, we are the same way- we need foundations in our lives, and we are so blessed to have a "sure foundation" of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon talks about having foundation and it is found in Helaman 5:12 -
 "  And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the ^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

 I love what this scripture teaches us.. our foundation must be built on our Savior, Jesus Christ. And not only is it a foundation, but it is a "sure" foundation,one that even when the Adversary is working his hardest against us, will not fall.
 But we know, as with all things in the gospel, that it is not enough just to have our foundation- we have to continually strengthen it, so that we can withstand the trials that we will face.

How do we strengthen our foundation in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

 Something I have gained a strong testimony of since being on my mission is the principle of obedience, and as we are obedient our testimonies and our foundation is strengthened because of the experiences and the blessings we receive. The Lord promises us many times in the scriptures that if we are obedient, we will receive eternal life. Working towards that promise and striving to be exactly obedient every day, strengthens my foundation in the gospel. Another aspect of obedience is the idea to "stay away from the edge"- something that one of my companions has shared with me is that commandments are safe guards, or guardrails, to protect us. And as we are protected and strive to not merely not sin, but to completely avoid situations that invite or tempt us to sin- our foundations are strengthened.
 Our foundations are also strengthened through studying the scriptures and "feasting" on the words of Christ like it mentions is 2 Nephi 32:3. We are promised that as we study from the scriptures, the words of Christ will tell us all things that we should do. That is such an incredible promise! I have a strong testimony that we can receive direct, personal revelation from the scriptures. And as we apply the things we learn from them, we can grow in the gospel and continue to improve the strength of our foundations.
We find another way to strengthen our foundations in  2 Nephi 32:9, and that is through prayer.
" But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."
  The Lord has promised us that if we come to Him in prayer then our "performances will be consecrated and will be for the welfare of our souls." Prayer is another way to build upon our foundation because it opens the way to receive direct revelation from Heavenly Father and can guide us in our lives.

My foundation:
 I want to finish this post by testifying to all of you who read this (which probably is not many :) ) that I know that my foundation is in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that I can do nothing without Him. The atonement has blessed my life in so many ways, and continues to bless me every day. I have gained an understanding of the many ways that we can utilize the atonement to build upon our foundations in the gospel. I know that this church is true. I know that obedience, prayer, and scripture study will give us that "sure foundation" that the scriptures have promised us. I know the Lord knows and loves each of us individually.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
 Amen.