Believing Christ

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Believing Christ is more difficult than believing IN Christ. Believing in Him only requires that we acknowledge his exis...
08/07/2026

Believing Christ is more difficult than believing IN Christ. Believing in Him only requires that we acknowledge his existence. It doesn’t take into account what our relationship with our Savior may be.

Believing Christ means believing that all the love and blessings that He promises, don’t just apply to the Chosen Few, the people we believe He actually loves. It means believing that WE are loved by Him as much as anyone else! He wants to teach us to have faith and He will help us overcome adversity.

That can be difficult to do while living in a mortal world where people hurt you, or you struggle with health issues, financial difficulties, family conflicts, or so many other things. Perhaps, some of us are given heavier or more prolonged burdens because He has faith in us that, through Him, we will develop the strength to both carry them and then help others do the same.

While this world can be cruel, Christ is not. We all are working through our own mortal experience. For some of His children, it takes study, prayer, and effort to believe we are just as worthy, just as loved, as anyone else. We must never listen to or believe anyone who tells us otherwise.

For me, I need to keep my eyes on Christ and not view Him through someone else’s lens. I need to believe that when He speaks, His message is for me. I need to believe He sees me and loves me and wants to help me learn and grow on this mortal journey.

Suffering is unfortunately part of that experience, sometimes. Do I turn away from Him? That’s so easy to do, but when the chips are down, I pray harder. I pour my heart out. He helps make things more bearable, so that I can learn from the experience.

I have a little fantasy that when I pass on, I’m met by my grandma, at her house, and when she asks me how it was, I cry and tell her, “It was hard!” We sit at her kitchen table. She dishes up a plate of Frikadeller, milk gravy, red cabbage, and potatoes, and everything seems ok.

I like to believe that’s how I’ll feel when I meet our Savior on the other side. It’ll feel like coming home.

07/24/2026

Happy 24th of July! On this day, in 1847, Brigham Young and company reached their destination in the Salt Lake Valley. Following him, other saints left their prior lives, joined wagon trains and handcart companies, and headed for the Salt Lake Valley. Some of my ancestors walked to Zion in the Homer Duncan Handcart Company.
These sisters, a widow and her adult daughters, have been an inspiration to my throughout my life. They went through hard times. They endured and stayed faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They reached Zion!
Today, we are not likely to ever have to pull a literal handcart to Zion. Our hardships look very different today, though some things remain similar.
Like the pioneers, we can have physical hardships. We can have opposition from friends and family. We can be pushed to do things we know would be impossible without the Lord’s help. And we do it!
Our Father in Heaven loves us, even during the hard times, especially through the hard times.
Happy Days of 47!!!

06/01/2026

After most lessons that I have given at Church, I have later been informed by a sister, “I needed to hear that,” or “that lesson was meant for me.” This gladdens my heart because I know I gave the lesson the Lord wanted given.

Before a lesson, I always prayerfully prepare from beginning to end. I study the supporting scriptures. I find life examples and draw from them. I ask that I will give the lesson that some sister, or sisters, need at that time. I ask that I not get in the way of what the Lord wants to convey. It doesn’t matter that I am not given the name of the individual(s) or their current trials. The Savior knows this better than I ever could.

There have been plenty of lessons on the worth of each individual’s soul, of their own intrinsic value, but not once have I felt instructed to give a lesson to “put someone in their place,” or “humble them, or “correct them,” until they do things the way I think they ought. Doing so is not our responsibility! It is our responsibility to bring others to Christ by helping them feel Christ’s love through us, not to bully them into submission.

Online, I see a an increasing number of “Christians” condemning those who don’t feel welcomed at church. This both saddens and horrifies me. At one time or another, that “unwelcome” person has been made to feel hurt, humiliated, or rejected. Or just… smaller… by another person’s words or treatment. How can a believer call themselves by Christ’s name while throwing down stumbling blocks for others? Loving our fellow man is a commandment!

Is it so difficult to find some compassion for people and not to look at them as a mere check mark in our own personal Daily Deeds Duly Done book? Love is not a duty, it is a blessing! Getting to actually know God’s children, especially during their trials, is a privilege. It builds intelligence, empathy, problem solving skills, and a greater link to Christ as we ask in sincerity, “Please show me, what does Your Child need?” And it builds friendship.

The youth of my childhood ward will forever be bonded by friendships that were strengthened after one of our own died. It’s unspoken, but always there. We mourned together and comforted one another. Our faith in Christ was strengthened. All because we helped and supported each other during a crisis.

But what about the good times? They should be no different. Our congregations are not Fortune 500 businesses. No man can elbow his way to the top in Christ’s church. Doing so will cause that person, like an M. C. Escher print, to find himself at the bottom of a staircase he has been so diligently climbing.

No, we will be judged against ourselves, not the guy next to us. Our Savior wants me to be my best me. He wants you to be your best you. And he wants us to do it with real, unfeigned love. And that means love for ourselves, too, as we may find ourselves no longer able to serve as well as we once enjoyed.

How did I come to write this? I have been recovering from an extended illness and have been unable to attend Church for several months. This has given me the time and distance to view things from the outside in. It’s been an interesting, and surprising, view. That’s how I happened to write this essay. Let’s build each other up.

Many years ago, I shared with my Relief Society class that in my opinion, the time would come when we would have to choo...
02/27/2026

Many years ago, I shared with my Relief Society class that in my opinion, the time would come when we would have to choose between our politics and our religion. All of us. I still stand by what I said then. The way you vote isn’t the defining characteristic of your moral character. It doesn’t put a gold stamp on you as superior or someone else as inferior. I’m starting to see these judgements spring up in my own congregation. I think it’s dangerous. “I voted this way and that automatically makes me a more Christlike being than you.” No. It doesn’t. Our salvation is up to our Savior, who views each of our hearts, minds, and souls as we navigate the daily grind of everyday living. If I vote for the person who promises all good things, and then I ostracize, belittle, judge, and condemn other members because I think I know their personal worth based upon my limited knowledge of their voting record, that says more about me than it does about them. Instead of letting politics divide us, it would be best to set that aside and look upon the heart.

01/09/2026

In a time when there are so many distractions, it can be difficult to focus on how the Savior feels about us. People can be cruel, dismissive, and hateful. Even people in authority. Yet, these individuals are on their own journey through mortality, just like us.

They have their own life experiences, their own personal prejudices, even their own DNA. These elements help create the people we are. All of us. The important thing for us is to focus on the Savior.

By doing so, we can transcend these things and see Him all around us; we can be more like Him! Sometimes, we can get sidetracked by minutae while we are trying our very best to serve Him. If we are doing our best to serve and those efforts are dismissed, torn apart, or mocked by those we are trying to serve, it’s best to go to the pure source of light and knowledge.

What does He want us to do? Maybe He wants us to forge ahead and convert those who are converted in mind, but not yet in heart. Maybe He wants us to do our best to be an example. Maybe He wants us to step back and focus that healing energy on ourselves.

We are not only His disciples, but His friends. Or, at least, trying to be. He doesn’t want His friends to feel unloved, discouraged, or depressed. He doesn’t want us to be heartsick. He wants us to be well and whole: our best selves. He wants us to feel the power of His Spirit, His LOVE, in action in our own lives, too.

01/05/2026

At the start of a new year, it is customary to make resolutions. For some, these resolutions are done just once a year. However, resolutions don’t need to be reserved for one day a year. They’re something that, as children of our Heavenly Father, we can make an effort to work on constantly, consistently, even if we don’t see results right away. Just by making the effort, we are making results.

01/02/2026

The name of this page is Believing Christ. It is for people who strive, not only to believe in Christ, but to believe that His words of love, instruction, and encouragement apply to them, too. Even during our weakness and hard times. During times of rejection and feeling unwanted and unneeded. We are made in God’s image, and we can serve Him uniquely. He knows our skill set and our strengths. That’s who He wants to work with: us! Not a carbon copy, cooky-cutter image of someone else. He wants us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. He will help us get there. Your calling, whatever it may be, is important. You are important.
Galatians 12:21-26

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