Faith

In one of the podcasts I listened to this week (Unshaken Saints), the host of the show mentioned something about Ether 12 that was very insightful to me. He pointed out the during the Jaredite civilization, the prophets prior to Ether cried repentance unto their people (Ether 7:23, 9:28, 11:12, 20), but it seems that Ether took a different approach by first “exhorting the people to believe in God” (12:3), or in other words, to have faith. 

Faith has to come before repentance (vs 3) because faith in Jesus Christ is the catalyst for us to see the changes we need to make. Pres. Nelson recently said "When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ."(We can do better and be better). So having faith first will open our eyes to see the things we need to change/repent of in our lives.

Seeing our need to repent is one gift we receive when we have faith in Jesus Christ. Ether 12 also lists many other gifts that come to us when we have faith.

Gifts of faith:

• By faith all things are fulfilled (vs 3)
• Faith gives us a sure hope for a better world and that we will dwell with God someday (vs 4)
• Faith will anchor our souls, and when we are anchored we are sure and steadfast. (vs 4)
• Faith motivates us to good works. (vs 4) 
• Faith leads us to glorify God (vs 4)
• Faith gives you hope for things you cannot see (vs 6)
• Faith allows us to see the hand of God in our lives-working miracles both large and small (vs.7-8, 12, 16, 18)
• Faith makes it possible for us to be partakers of the heavenly gift (vs 8-9). According to "The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families"(page 636), the heavenly gift is "receiving forgiveness of our sins and the companionship of the Holy Ghost."
• Faith allows us to have the priesthood here on earth (vs 10)
• By Faith the Atonement of Jesus Christ was fulfilled (vs 11)
• By Faith we obtain promises from the Lord (vs 17, 21-22)
• Faith allows us to understand His word (vs 20)
• By Faith we can be made mighty in word (vs 23)
• By our Faith the Lord can work through us to bring about righteousness (vs 29)

So what are some ways we can increase our faith? In Preach My Gospel it states that "your faith will increase through diligent study, prayer, dedicated service, and obedience to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and the commandments. Your faith in Jesus Christ grows as you become better acquainted with Him and His teachings" Also, as we work to develop any Christlike attribute, we will also gain other Christlike attributes. "By focusing deeply on one needed attribute, as you progress in obtaining that attribute, other attributes begin to accrue to you." (Elder Scott D. Whiting Becoming like Him). So, even if you're focusing on another Christlike attribute like becoming more patient or more obedient, your faith can also increase during that process. 

The principle of faith can sometimes be an abstract concept to understand and hard to quantify, but as we recognize the gifts of faith in our lives, then our faith becomes somewhat easier to measure. For example, if you can recognize God's hand in your life or feel motivated to do good works, then those are gifts that are coming to you because of your faith in Jesus Christ.