Faith Is All It Takes

This morning in my scripture study I came across an interesting verse. The last part of it really caught my eye.

"But behold, my beloved brethren, I judge better things of you, for I judge that ye have faith in Christ because of your meekness; for if ye have not faith in him then ye are not fit to be numbered among the people of his church." - Moroni 7:39

It seemed to get really harsh there at the end. "... not fit to be numbered among the people of his church"? I thought the Church was supposed to be a welcoming place/group, not one that limits who can join. Guess what? It still is. And the only requirement? A little bit of faith.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." He also said, "I know of no sign on the doors of our meeting houses that says 'Your testimony must be this tall to enter.'" 

It doesn't take much to have a little faith. That's why it is the first principle of the Gospel. Alma told us that we really only need to have a desire to believe and then we can start from there to grow our faith. Even by simply attending church we have shown a little faith that we want to learn something that can make us a better person. Looking back at the first part of that verse, that little faith comes from meekness, humility.

All Mormon says we have to do to be part of the Church is have faith. We might have doubts about doctrine or policy,  we might have doubts about our personal worthiness or worth, or we might have doubts about any number of other things.  But if we can have faith in Jesus Christ, we can belong in His Church. That's literally it. We don't have to have perfect understanding or perfect obedience or perfect faith or perfect anything, just a little faith in Christ. From there we can develop faith in other areas. We'll gain understanding as we go along.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Be ye therefore perfect - eventually." We're not expected to be perfect now. Just do the best with what you can, have faith, and the Lord will make up all the difference.

Faith works in so many ways. Not just staying active in church when the world is unkind or intolerant toward your beliefs. It's also about following your dreams, doing what you truly desire. You're not going to be the best at it when you first start, but with faith, you can become better. You can make the world a better place.