Thought to Ponder

So I gave a talk today in church

and so I wanted to share a little bit from it!

 Topic: Hope Leads to Faith and Then Action

“Hope is an emotion which brings richness to our everyday lives. It is defined as “the feeling that events will turn out for the best.” When we exercise hope, we “look forward with desire and reasonable confidence.”  

Sometimes we hope for things that we have little or no control of. We hope for good weather. In Arizona we hope for an early Fall. Sometimes I am known to hope that even though I eat greasy foods all day, that I still won’t gain weight while my husband hopes that Miami will win NBA Finals.

Hope makes our lives interesting and can even lead us to some irrational decisions.

For example each time I drive in a tunnel or over a bridge I have to lift my feet and hold my breath because I have a Hope that if I do, and make a wish at the same time, that my wish will come true! 

However, hope alone does not cause us to succeed. 

In a talk given by Steven E Snow, he said that

 "Many honorable hopes have gone unfulfilled, shipwrecked on the reefs of good intentions and laziness."

In Ether 12:9 we read “Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith.”

So this scripture tells us that faith is necessary in order to make our hopes a reality.

The Bible dictionary tells us that “faith is to have confidence without reservation 

In a talk by RICHARD C. EDGLEY we are told to, “ be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism.

After reading and pondering this quote I have come to the realization that Yes, faith is a choice, and it must be sought after and developed. And so, we are responsible for our own faith. We are also responsible for our lack of faith. 

The choice is ours.