2.359 We Offer Our Testimony of the Reality of His Matchless Life

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.

Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. We're finishing this week focusing on messages of Jesus Christ, as well as Moroni chapters 2 through 8. And while we're going to go back to Moroni tomorrow, I thought perhaps today, especially for those of you listening live, it would be worth our time and attention to pull a couple paragraphs from "The Living Christ".

Let's talk about that for just a second. So our verses today are technically from "The Living Christ" and we're going to do the first and last paragraphs. It says this, and then let's talk about it for a second.

As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of his matchless life and the infinite virtue of his great atoning sacrifice. We bear testimony as his duly ordained apostles that Jesus is the living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Emmanuel, who stands today on the right hand of his Father.

He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine Son.

Signed the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, January 1st of the year 2000. I can remember this document coming out as well as the videos that they put out at the time. And I thought that perhaps those were kind of lost to the VHS/VCR world.

But the church has continued to keep an updated version of that. I'm going to put a link in it here into this podcast episode for you to be able to take some time to go and watch the 'Special Witnesses of Christ' website that they've put together on the church. So go follow that and you can see the videos of each one of the apostles bearing special witness of Jesus Christ.

As I think into the paragraph that's been shared here, the opening one: 'None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived.' I kind of go down the road of what would be considered cliché a little bit, in that I think, 'In my life, what would my life look like without a testimony of Jesus Christ?' And I've thought about that sometimes, and it's very difficult to try and just put yourself in that situation. For me, I haven't had kind of a major faith crisis or anything like that in my life in terms of doubting or falling away. But I was talking to a good friend a few months ago, and he was willing to share with me the crisis that he went through.

He had gone through a period of time in his life where he had decided everything, all of it, all of it was false. There was no God. There was no Jesus Christ that was a Savior of the world.

You know, it was all false. There was no restoration needed because there was no true church in the first place. And he said something to me that was really profound and something that made sense to me, even though I hadn't experienced it.

He said, 'You know, I got to a point in my life where I had to decide that if there really was nothing, then all life also had no meaning.' And he said, all the way down to the level of, like, it didn't matter whether I got out of bed. It didn't matter whether I went to work or not because it was all meaningless. And he said, 'When I got to that point in my life, I realized that there had to be something.' And then I started to build my faith off of the idea that there had to be something there.' And that really stuck with me.

As I consider what Jesus Christ has been in my life and the role that he played, he provides purpose for me. He provides an opportunity for growth, an opportunity for forgiveness, an opportunity to be better. And I am grateful for those components in my life that all turn me towards Jesus Christ.

While my testimony is not considered a special witness by any means, I've not been called to the authoritative position of apostle, I do want to add my testimony that I bear witness that Jesus Christ is real. That his plan is truly a plan of happiness and a plan of salvation for all who will turn to him. And I'm grateful to him for the example, for the way that he's provided for my life to be a better father, a better husband, a better friend, and hopefully a better human being to all those I come in contact with.

That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt. For more information, visit us at www.fema.org.