Day 334 Testify of Christ, Not Justify Beliefs

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. How do we talk to those who don't believe?

Welcome to Day 334 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, you're going to be reading Mormon chapter 9, verses 1 through 13. And inside of it, you're going to see that right off the beginning, starting in verse 1, Moroni wants to talk directly to those who don't believe in Jesus Christ.

This is a great chapter for you and I to dive into and see how Moroni interacts with non-believers in Jesus Christ. Our verse for today is going to come in Mormon chapter 9, verse 12. And I like to give a little bit of an advance warning, perhaps a little bit of a forecast.

We're going to address what he says in verse 11 tomorrow as we look at what it means to see a God of miracles. But before we get there, let's look at verse 12 for our verse today. Mormon chapter 9, verse 12, says, "Behold, He created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man.

And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son. And because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man." Now, I love inside of this that Moroni wants to just testify of Jesus Christ. It helped me kind of remember a time when I was living in Houston, Texas.

And I had some really great friends. Well, they're still great friends. I care for them a lot.

I love them. They're awesome. And we got into a discussion about "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." And I was trying to explain, and I was trying to justify, and I was trying to kind of logically walk through all the pieces of the Family Proclamation.

And it was quite difficult because they had a very fixed stance and I had a very fixed stance. And I got to the point where I had to simply say, "Here's what I believe: I believe God is our Heavenly Father. I believe He's real.

I believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. And I believe that Jesus Christ speaks to us through prophets today. And I believe this came directly from prophets, through Christ, and through Heavenly Father." And what I see here—the Bible is a great example for us as we're sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ—to remember that sometimes we want to logically explain things about the gospel.

Sometimes we want to rationalize what we think happened with this historical scenario or these prophets over here or the apostles over there. And we feel like we need to justify or rationalize what happened when really what it comes down to is we need to testify of Jesus Christ. We need to testify of Heavenly Father and Their reality.

And through our testimony, we need to allow it to speak from our heart to the hearts of those listening. I love this example by Moroni because it helps me remember that nothing—no logical explanation—is more powerful than a simple testimony. My friends, take the opportunity regularly to testify to your friends and family, believers or non-believers, of Jesus Christ.

Testify of His reality. Testify of a loving Heavenly Father, a God of miracles, as we're going to take a look at tomorrow. Testify of the things that you know and believe to be true.

And the more you will do so, the more that testimony and that fire inside of you will burn brighter and brighter. And the more those around you will know that you stand firm in your beliefs and the testimony that you share with them. That, I know, is a powerful opportunity for you and I.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.