Trusting the Doctrine of Christ

I invite you to make prayer a priority in your life seeking daily to improve your communications with God.

Nephi’s treatise on the doctrine of Christ is a treasure to those who feast upon it. It contains a vision of the Savior’s baptism and the voice of the Son inviting all to follow Him and “do the things which [we] have seen [Him] do.” It contains Nephi’s witness that those who, with faith in Christ, sincerely repent of their sins and follow the Savior into the waters of baptism will “receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost.” We also hear the voice of the Father bearing record: “Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

Those last chapters of 2 Nephi may be the most complete and concise record of the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we covenant to live.

Last October, President Nelson asked, “What does it mean to overcome the world?” Among other things, he said, “It means trusting the doctrine of Christ more than the philosophies of men.”

The word trust is defined as an “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” That someone is Jesus Christ, and that something is His doctrine.

We overcome the world by relying on the character, ability, and strength of Christ and the truth of the doctrine of Christ more than on whatever the world may offer.

How would intentionally trusting the doctrine of Christ change the way we live our lives?

• If we trust the doctrine of Christ, we will trust Christ enough to live by His every word.
• We will make a lifelong study of Jesus Christ, His ministry, His teachings, and His infinite Atonement, including His glorious Resurrection.
• We will study His promises and the conditions upon which those promises are given.
• If we trust the doctrine of Christ, we will approach our Heavenly Father every day in humble, secret prayer, where we can express gratitude for the gift of His Son and for all of our blessings.
• We can pray for the revelatory companionship of the Holy Ghost, pray to align our will with His, pray to reflect upon our covenants and renew our commitment to keep them.
• We can pray to sustain and express love for our prophets, seers, and revelators; pray for the cleansing power of forgiveness; and pray for the strength to resist temptation.
• If we trust the doctrine of Christ, we will set aside the shiny things of the world so that we can focus on the Redeemer of the world.
• We will limit or eliminate time spent on social media; digital games; wasteful, excessive, or inappropriate entertainment; the allure of this world’s treasures and vanities; and any other activities that give place to the false traditions and misguided philosophies of men.
• Sincere repentance will become a joyful part of our lives—both to be forgiven for sin and to be changed in the image of Christ.

Jesus did not speak of the possibility of rain and flood and wind in our lives; He spoke of the certainty that storms will arise. The variable in this parable is not whether storms will come but how we have responded to His loving invitation to both hear and do what He has taught. There is no other way to survive.

If we are to respond appropriately to life we have to know which things are constant and which things are variable. We should also recognize which things are within our control and which things are outside our control.