Thursday, June 18, 2009

Testimony vs. Conversion

Today I have been thinking about what it means to have a testimony. Elder Dallin H. Oaks defined it as:

"A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true."

He also said:

"Testimony is to know and to feel, conversion is to do and to become."



Often I think of testimony and conversion to mean the same when really they are quite different. I know of others who at one point in their life, knew and felt truth but failed to act upon it. I would consider myself guilty of this. How many times have I needed to repent because I failed to do something simply because of laziness, pride or a lack of faith. Conversion is about the doing which leads to becoming. I believe that is why covenants are important. They are part of the doing we experience as we follow Christ.



Elder Christofferson spoke at April 09 General Conference about the POWER of our Covenants. I must admit, I often think about this subject. There is real power that we receive when we keep and honor our promises with God. He will not forsake us if we remember and honor Him. I know this is true. Elder Christofferson said the following regarding covenants:


"We enter into covenants by priesthood ordinances, sacred rituals that God has ordained for us to manifest our commitment. Our foundational covenant, for example, the one in which we first pledge our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ, is confirmed by ordinance of baptism. It is done individually, by name. By this ordinance, we become part of the covenant people of the Lord and heirs of the celestial Kingdom of God."....

"Divine covenants make strong Christians. I urge each one to qualify for and receive all the priesthood ordinances you can and then faithfully keep the promises you have made by covenant. In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, "Here am I."


I am recommitting myself to do all I can to honor my covenants and become a stronger Christian. I am grateful to know that this is possible!

2 comments:

Carol said...

Susan Tanner once wrote a very interesting article on 'Conversion'. I remember that there was one particular line in this article that really helped me. She said that conversion is something that is ongoing, it's not just a one-time event, it's something that materialises along the journey of life.
I think as we keep our eyes on Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to work within us, we shall continue to 'be converted' and through this our lives will become more devoted to Him and we will simply find ourselves living our lives in a way that we know will please Him.
When we live to please Him, everything else will fall into place.

Emily said...

So true. I couldn't agree more! Thanks for your thoughts!