In my previous post I talked about some of the things that impressed me from our most recent General Conference. Today I will talk more about the second of those ideas: building our personal gospel foundation.
The Importance of a Strong Foundation
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm 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.
Whenever you are setting out to build something, the first thing you must do is lay a foundation. Whether you are building a house, a skyscraper, a family or a life, if you want to succeed, you need to start by building a strong foundation.
It is often easy for us to acknowledge the importance of a foundation when thinking about a building. We can easily understand that a building cannot stand without a solid foundation to support its weight.
When we think of more conceptual things like building a family or a life, the importance of a foundation can be harder to understand. What does it mean to have a foundation for your life or a foundation for a family? How can you build such a foundation? What are the correct materials to use for such a foundation? How does it add strength and support everything else you do?
In order for our lives to be truly stable, we must understand the answers to these questions. We must know how to build the right kind of foundation.
The Savior taught that the wise man builds his house on a foundation of rock. The foolish man builds his house on a foundation of sand. The house on the rock has the foundation it needs to weather the storms of life. The house on the sand falls when the storm begins.
In this story, we are told the the Savior and His Gospel are the rock upon which we must build. The Savior is the source of true power and stability. When we build on the foundation of the Savior we can have that power in our lives. So how do we build our lives on the rock foundation?
Building Your Gospel Foundation
The commandments are the foundation on which discipleship is built. Steady discipleship leads us to become firm, steadfast, and immovable, like the steel framework for a temple. This steady framework allows the Lord to send His Spirit to change our hearts. Experiencing a mighty change of heart is like adding beautiful features to the interior of a temple.
As we continue in faith, the Lord gradually changes us. We receive His image in our countenance and begin to reflect the love and beauty of His character. As we become more like Him, we will feel at home in His house, and He will feel at home in ours.
If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the sure foundation for our lives, then the commandments are the bricks used to build that foundation. As we strive each day to live the commandments, we steadily build that foundation one brick at a time.
As we continue to build this foundation each day, it allows the Lord to purify our hearts. It help us to learn to truly love Him and each other.
Taking Time To Upgrade Your Foundation
“What are the foundational elements of my spiritual and emotional character that will allow me and my family to remain steadfast and immovable, even to withstand the earthshaking and tumultuous seismic events that will surely take place in our lives?”
These events, similar to an earthquake, are often difficult to predict and come in various levels of intensity—wrestling with questions or doubt, facing affliction or adversity, working through personal offenses with Church leaders, members, doctrine, or policy. The best defense against these lies in our spiritual foundation.
What might spiritual cornerstones of our personal and family lives be? They may be the simple, plain, and precious principles of gospel living—family prayer; scripture study, including the Book of Mormon; temple attendance; and gospel learning through Come, Follow Me and home evening.
In a previous post I wrote about How to Build the Future of Your Dreams. Building our future foundation follows the same pattern involved in building a future or anything else. To truly build anything great requires consistent and focused effort. We must invest time if we are to build a truly strong foundation for our lives.
Many people may find this fact disheartening. It is not uncommon for all of us to feel that we are already overburdened. Many of us feel we already have far too much to do and the we couldn’t possibly add anything else to our to-do list. There are four things that can help us when we feel this way.
1. Effort Counts
“Of course it’s hard. Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult. The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.
When it comes to building a spiritual foundation, effort counts. President Nelson has taught us that “The Lord loves effort”. You may be truly overburdened. You may realistically have very little time to add more to your life. If this is the case, you can still find small ways to build your spiritual foundation.
It can be amazing how much power can come by taking 5 minutes to study the scriptures or listening to something uplifting during your commute. Even simply taking a moment at the start of your day to talk to your Father in Heaven in heartfelt prayer can strengthen your spiritually.
2. Practice Can Be A Part Of Everything We Do
From the Lord’s perspective, establishing the finest homes has everything to do with the personal qualities of the people who live there. These homes aren’t made fine in any important or lasting way by their furniture or by the net worth or social status of the people who own them. The finest characteristic of any home is the image of Christ reflected in the home’s residents. What matters is the interior design of the souls of the inhabitants, not the structure itself.
It is important to remember that the foundation we are building is not something separate from the rest of our lives. It should be the basis for everything we do. Because of this, we can work to strengthen that foundation in everything we do each and every day.
We can strengthen our spiritual foundation when we are kind to others. We can strengthen our foundation when we take time to really listen to our family and friends. We can strengthen our foundation when we try to find small ways to serve those around us. We can strengthen our foundation as we seek to follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We can strengthen our foundation when we feel gratitude for the many blessings we have.
In short, we can strengthen our spiritual foundation as we strive to follow the commandments in every aspect of our lives. This does not require us to carve out large amounts of time in our schedule to study the scriptures or to spend hours a day praying. It does require us to actively try to live the gospel in everything we do.
This can be difficult. It is important to remember as we try to live the gospel throughout the day that progress is more important than perfection. Again, progress is more important than perfection.
3. Consistency Counts
True spiritual strength comes from consistency. It is by our consistent effort that we can truly build a foundation that will support us when we are confronted with challenges. This means we should not give up if we occasionally have days where we stumble. Rather we can be strengthened each day that we try to be better.
The Lord knows we are not perfect. He loves to bless us when we show our desires to follow Him. He will bless us each and every time we make time to draw nearer to Him. As we strive to do this each and every day, we will inevitably draw closer to Him. We will consistently become more like Him.
Daily effort to draw closer to the Savior is the foundation we are talking about. It is our daily efforts that become the foundation that will allow us to endure and grow from the trials and challenges we encounter in life.
4. Standing In Holy Places
Our ultimate quest in life is to prepare to meet our Maker. We do this by striving daily to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we do that as we repent daily and receive His cleansing, healing, and strengthening power. Then we can feel enduring peace and joy, even during turbulent times. This is exactly why the Lord has implored us to stand in holy places and “be not moved.”
We must take time to repent and stand in holy places. As we work to incorporate the gospel into our daily lives we will have times that we fall short of being like Jesus Christ. Repentance allows us to be forgiven and to truly overcome our weaknesses through Jesus Christ. Repentance gives us the hope we need each and every day to stand up and try again to follow the Savior’s example.
We can gain strength to do this as we stand in holy places. When we hear the term “holy places, we often think of the temple. The temples of the Lord truly are holy places, but there are many other places where we can draw closer to our Heavenly Father.
Our churches, our homes, out in nature, and many other places can become holy places for us if we let them. We can make these places holy as we do what we can to make them places where the Spirit of the Lord can be felt.
What are your holy places? Where do you go to gain spiritual strength? How often do you intentionally stand in holy places? What can you change in your life to allow you to stand in holy places more often?
Conclusion
Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult. For example, when God wanted to give the Ten Commandments to Moses, where did He tell Moses to go? Up on top of a mountain, on the top of Mount Sinai. So Moses had to walk all the way up to the top of that mountain to get the Ten Commandments. Now, Heavenly Father could have said, ‘Moses, you start there, and I’ll start here, and I’ll meet you halfway.’ No, the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.
As with all important things, building a sure spiritual foundation takes time and effort. We must work to build a spiritual foundation for our lives. Remember though that the Lord is waiting to bless us as soon as we start putting forth sincere effort. He will guide us and help us as we strive to follow Him.
With His help, there is nothing we cannot do. With His help, we can build a foundation for our lives that can give us strength and security amid all or our trials and tribulations.
It is my hope and prayer that each of us can find ways every day to make our spiritual foundations a little stronger. By doing so, we can draw a little closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ each and every day. And each and every day we can become a little bit more like Him.
Ready To Be Better?
If you want to overcome your weaknesses and draw closer to Jesus Christ, check out my free guide called: “Daily Closer to Jesus Christ Checklist”