Relief Society Lesson -- The Transforming Power of Faith and Character

The Transforming Power of Faith and Character
Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the 12 apostles
October 2010 General Conference

When faith is properly understood and used, it has dramatically far-reaching effects.

Faith and character are intimately related.

We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day.

Righteous character is more valuable than any material object you own, any knowledge you have gained through study, or any goals you have attained...

Strong moral character results from consistent correct choices in the trials and testing of life.

What are some of the empowering principles upon which faith is based?
• Trust in God and in His willingness to provide help when needed, no matter how challenging the circumstance.
• Obedience to His commandments and a life that demonstrates that He can trust you.
• Sensitivity to the quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit.
• Courageous implementation of that prompting.
• Patience and understanding when God lets you struggle to grow and when answers come a piece at a time over an extended period.

Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow.

The bedrock of character is integrity.

Your happiness on earth as well as your eternal salvation require many correct decisions, none of which is difficult to make.

A consistent, righteous life produces an inner power and strength that can be permanently resistant to the eroding influence of sin and transgression.

Your faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments will strengthen your character.

You cannot be passive in life, or in time the natural man will undermine your efforts to live worthily. You become what you do and what you think about.

This mortal life is a proving ground.

Humility is the precious fertile soil of righteous character.

Four principles that when they are applied with diligence and consistency, produce strength of character, increasing ability to convert the challenges of life into stepping-stones of happiness now and forever. They are:

• Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His program to acquire the power to achieve.
• Repentance to rectify the consequences of mistakes of omission or commission.
• Obedience to the commandments of the Lord to provide strength and direction in our lives.
• Selfless service to enrich the lives of others.

Life may seem difficult now, but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. You are making better progress than you realize.
*End of quotes from Elder Scott*

I like to use analogies when I teach. The analogy I thought of for my lesson today is as follows:

Think of your body and your spirit separately. Ask the class what is necessary to keep the body alive and thriving. Mention that most of us are very good at feeding/nourishing our bodies. Most of us haven’t gone more than 24 hours without food or drink. In fact, most of us feed our bodies three times a day, if not more including snacks. Ask the class what feeds or nourishes our spirits.

Answers included things like reading our Scriptures, going to church, saying our prayers, etc. then asked the class, “do we feed our spirits as often as we feed our bodies?” Using the reading of scriptures as example. Do we read our Scriptures daily? Or several times a day? How long have we gone without reading our Scriptures. I would venture to guess that most of us have gone long periods of time; weeks or months, without reading our Scriptures.

The next example I used was comparing poisons of the body with poisons of the Spirit. I mentioned two types of poison to our bodies. The first, ethylene glycol, has a sweet taste. And therefore might not be recognized as a poison. Whereas most poisons taste bad or smell bad and therefore are easily avoided. The second type of poison I mentioned was poison mushrooms. While they may appear nourishing, and are not easily distinguished from edible mushrooms, they are deadly. I told the story I learned in medical school of a family who liked to eat wild mushrooms. They went into the woods and picked some wild mushrooms. Put them in their spaghetti and ate them. The entire family started becoming quite ill, went to the emergency room, and unfortunately they all died.

None of us would deliberately ingest poisons. But sometimes they appear desirable. This is how Satan tempts us. He makes things look desirable, when actually they are poisonous to our spirits. Ask the class to name things that are poisonous to our spirits. Answers may include: watching movies or television laced with profanity, violence, sex, etc., not obeying the word of wisdom, lying, fornication, adultery, pornography, and so forth.

Tell the class that it would be absurd for us to say that just a little bit of that poison mushroom won’t hurt us. And slice little bit off and eat it. Or put a few drops of antifreeze on our food. But, how often do we poison our spirits with bad movies or music, etc.?

Not doing things that feed our spirits (sins of omission) and doing things that poison our spirits (sins of commission) are both detrimental and will make ill or kill our spirits. Just like not feeding or poisoning our bodies will make us very sick or kill our bodies.