For those of you who asked, here it is. So this isn't exactly what I said, but it is the gist. I apologize for the grammar, I didn't actually read this. I just used it as a reference while speaking.
Once upon a time, there was a group of men who all worked together. Accounts don’t give a lot of details but I believe it is safe to say that they were all fairly young. Everyday these young men were sent out on missions to transport animals. These missions were dangerous, gangs often attacked, and if the animals were stolen the young men were likely to be killed by their boss for failing. One day while out on a mission they were attacked and the animals were stolen. At that point, knowing that they were likely to be killed for allowing the animals to be taken, the young men collapsed and began to cry. All except one. This young man was a foreigner and it was his third day at work. His name was Ammon.
In Alma 17 verse 31 Ammon tells the servants of King Lamoni,“My Brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water.” Or in other words Ammon basically says “Don’t be scared, let’s do something about this.” Ammon could say this because he knew that the Lord would give him the strength to stand against the Lamanite robbers. The scriptures are full of similar stories: Moses battling the Amorites, David & Goliath, Nephi retrieving the plates, almost every day of Joseph Smith’s life, the list goes on. Each of these stories has the underlying message from the Lord, "Fear not; I am with thee."
Now in Sunday school I was taught that if the Lord says something, you should listen. If He says something twice it is really important. If He says something three times, you better start taking notes because obviously you are doing something wrong. "Fear not" is mentioned over 200 times in the Old Testament alone, and we were instructed to not fear in 10 different talks in our last general conference. That indicates to me that it is an important lesson to learn, but why? Does it really matter if I’m afraid?
Yes, it does matter. Satan has a lot of tools that he uses to drag us down, inappropriate media, drugs, bad friends, etcetera. But one of his greatest tools, one that we don’t often consider, is fear. One of the best ways we can receive help in the repentance process is to counsel with loving friends and family and if necessary the bishop. So naturally when we sin, Satan immediately tries to convince us that these individuals will judge us and think badly of us. He tries to make you afraid of asking them for help because he knows that if you don’t reach out to those individuals god has given you to help you that you will have a much more difficult time repenting.
When an individual commits a serious sin, Satan will go as far as to try to convince you that you have messed up so badly that you cannot possibly receive forgiveness and live a worthy life. He tries to make you so afraid that you don’t even try. I've met people who have believed this lie and it is one of the saddest things. But here’s the deal, each and every one of you is special, but you are not so unique that the atonement does not apply. Christ loves each and every one of you regardless of what you have done. And He will help you become clean again.
The scriptures tell us of Alma the Elder, who was a priest under the reign of King Noah. Sometimes I don’t think we grasp just how wicked he was as a priest of King Noah. Not only did he commit all manner of iniquities, but he led an entire nation to follow in his behavior while pretending to be a servant of the Lord. Those are some serious sins. But in Mosiah Chapter 23 Alma says “I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance; Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of the truth.” Alma used words such as sore repentance and much tribulation. I’m not going to tell you it will be easy because it won’t be. But I promise you it is worth it. Alma says the Lord heard his cries, I promise the Lord will hear yours and he will answer your prayers. And then Alma says that he has become an instrument in the hand of the Lord.
Brothers and Sisters that is one of the beauties of the atonement. If you have sinned you can do more than just repent and become an “average” disciple of Christ. You can repent and become a valiant servant in building the kingdom of God. The Lord’s hand is stretched out still, you just have to choose not to be afraid and take it.
Now fear can be a stumbling block for more than just those who have sinned. You see Satan doesn't have to make you do bad things. He just has to stop you from doing good. Each of us has incredible potential to do good and to work wonders in building the Kingdom of God. However if Satan can convince you that standing up for your standards is embarrassing, or that sharing your testimony is too scary than you are succumbing to fear and not living to your full potential. Now, I am not saying that every person who does not bear their testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting is a sinner. There isn’t enough time for everyone. But if, when you feel the prompting to testify to a friend in need, you shrink back because you think they won’t want to hear it, that is a problem. And from personal experience I can promise that you will regret it. In contrast I can also tell you from personal experience that you if you do follow the prompting, whether or not your message is well received, you will never regret it.
I encourage you to follow the example of Moroni who said “I speak with Boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what men can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear. You see, if you love others you will not be afraid to do what is necessary to help them.
Interestingly enough we are sometimes tricked into thinking fear can be good. Like that it is good to be afraid to sin. That is a classic example of doing the right thing, for the wrong reason. Not sinning is good; But instead of choosing not to sin because we are afraid of the consequences, we should choose not to sin because we love and trust God and we want to do as He asks.
Another time when people think it is ok to be afraid is when a loved one is in some sort of trouble. That is actually a terrible time to be afraid. Fear will only lead you to tentative half-hearted tries to help and most likely no action at all… because you are too scared to make things worse. Rather than being afraid, you need to have faith. Which brings me to my main point. If you are in a situation where you start to fear, stop, remember the Lord is on your side, and have faith. Elder Holland said “There is the truth that faith and fear cannot coexist. If we have faith in our Savior we are not afraid. But if we are afraid, we need to strengthen our faith and trust in him.”
Now everyone once in a while I meet someone who doesn’t understand this concept. They think that when something goes wrong that they have just need to say “I have faith that the Lord will work things out” and then whatever happens afterwards was simply meant to be and that they don’t need to take any action because the Lord is going to take care of it and what happens is how things are supposed to happen. That is not how things work. That isn’t faith. That is lazy.
You see someone who has true faith follows their plea to the Lord with action. You see faith is not only about believing in God and His word. But it is also about trusting Him enough to actually do what He tells you to. Sometimes you’ll even need to act before He tells you because he wants you to demonstrate your faith. So have true faith, and you will not have need to fear.
But what about those who don’t have faith? Or whose faith is very weak? If you don’t have the necessary faith you should do as Elder Holland instructed and strengthen our faith. But how? The answer is simple. It’s the answers to every question ever asked in church. The Sunday School answers. You know, prayer, read the scriptures, go to church, and for the really deep thinkers; take the sacrament, sing hymns, fast, bear your testimony, and do service. These Sunday School answers are right, but if you want to build faith it’s a little bit more involved. So let’s go through them.
Prayer: Consider how you pray. Does your prayer consist of, Thanks for the nice day, please help me have another nice day tomorrow, something else super general Amen fall asleep. If that’s the case while it’s better than nothing it’s not much. It’s like when I come home from high school and my dad or mom says
“How was School?”
“Good”
“What did you learn?”
“Stuff”
“Wow that told me a lot.”
“Yep”
Yes I talked to my parents, but not really. I’m willing to bet that hardly makes my parents inclined to discuss with me the things I want to talk about, like borrowing the car. It’s the same thing with prayer. God may want to bless us, but unless you’re actually willing to really talk to Him, He can’t. I mean what if tomorrow you woke up with only the things you thanked god for today? Consider taking a minute before you start to pray to review your day so that you have a list of meaningful things to thank Him for. Look for things that you need help with and can improve on. If you actually spend the time to figure out what you’re going to pray about, before you start praying, you’ll have a much more spiritual experience. You will grow closer to God, and your faith will grow.
Read the Scriptures: My best suggestion to reading the scriptures is to approach them with a question before you open them. Then search the scriptures for answers, ponder on the answers, and then pray about your answers to see if they were right. The gained knowledge and the confirmation of the knowledge will once again help your faith to grow.
Attend Church: Whenever I heard this Sunday school answer I always thought,” well I’m here aren’t I? I obviously have got this one down. You guys are here, you’ve got it down." But do we really? When you go to church are you really at church? Or are you texting your friends? How many #boredinchurch selfies have you sent to friends? Brothers and Sisters, Satan doesn’t have to convince you not to come if while you’re here he can get you to not pay attention. And I’m sorry, if you’re snapchatting or texting during sacrament meeting, not only are you not paying attention but you’re disrupting the healing environment for others.
Take the Sacrament: Do you view it as a mid meeting snack or the body and blood of your Older Brother who endured unimaginable pain and suffering and gave up His life for you so that you can sin and sin and sin again and still obtain forgiveness?
Sing Hymns: Are you conscious of the message in the words you’re saying?
Fasting: If you don’t have a reason, you’re just going hungry. If you can’t think of a reason look at those around you who are in need.
Testimony: Bear it. You don’t need stories, and the Bishop might actually appreciate it if you didn’t turn your testimony into an unplanned sermon. I once got a card in church that named just six simple things that make a strong testimony, A belief in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, the Priesthood, Joseph Smith, and Modern Day Prophets. There are of course other things to bear testimony of, but if you’re not used to doing it those could be a good place to start.
Service: Do it well, with a good attitude. But most importantly do it keeping in mind any of the spiritual needs of the person you are doing the service for. Your spiritual service is far more important than temporal service. On that thought, maybe you should visit the temple. If you’re feeling really daring you could try family history work.
If you do these things, I promise you that your faith will increase and you will find that you know longer need to fear because you will recognize that the Lord is with you.
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