A portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge and also power, according to my faith and desires which are in God. -Alma 12:113 RAV, 18:35 OPV

The second question I would like to ask is: What are you trying to discover? This is a key question because it paints the picture of where you are going next. Some are seeking answers, some are seeking a way out, some are not even sure what it is they are looking for.

Tom

One man I worked with, we will call him Tom, wanted to make his wife happy. We will call her Sally. He was not seeking truth, or anything for himself. If his wife wanted something to be true, he would focus on anything he could find and see as evidence that would verify his wife’s beliefs. This caused two main problems: Tom did not have his own truth, and with Sally changing her mind repeatedly on what she wanted to believe, their “truth” became more and more erratic. This caused a riff between them and left Tom not knowing what to believe.

It is important to understand that everyone has their own “truth.” This is because, as finite beings, we cannot see or comprehend absolute truth. It is important that we discover the truth that defines us. There are many religious or spiritual paths ranging from atheism to devout fundamentalism and they exist because there are people that rely on their “truth” to survive.

The Christian Path

As Christians, our common truth is found in Jesus Christ, and yet there are hundreds of thousands of versions of our truth (various churches, sects, and denominations). Yet we can break the truth down to one word: love. Love is the truth God has given us in Jesus Christ. We see this love in the words of Jesus in John 3:16-17:

For this is how God loved the world: He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life; because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him.

To some their truth is the condemnation of all those that do not accept their personal truth. Yet Jesus was not sent to condemn, but to save. In this world we see people battle between ideologies; some as simple as which version of the Bible to use, and others as complex as how to arrange social constructs, like marriage and child rearing. If Jesus did not come to condemn but to save, then who are we to condemn others?

Unity in Christ

This idea of differing ideologies competing was seen in Jesus’ day, in Mark 9:38-40, and Jesus dealt with it in the best way possible, with love.

John said to Him: ‘Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.’
And Jesus said: ’Don’t stop him, because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me; for whoever is not against us is for us.’ -Mark 9:38-40,

The Grace of Christ is given to us not because we are worthy of it, but because none of us are worthy without it. Therefore, what right do we have to condemn others if God does not condemn us? Regardless of what truth you find, please remember how you feel right now, and remembers that others may be going through the same thing at any time. We do not know where others are in their journey, so let’s love and respect one anther where we are. Just as you are working to find your truth, please respect and understand that others are working on their own truth as we all walk this road together, deepening our personal relationships with Christ, and through Jesus, with one another.