So my Vietnamese name is Huu Tin, meaning heaving faith. The reason for my name is because there is a little more than 6 years between my older sister and I, and my mom was told after having my sister that she would not have anymore children. My parents joined the church and my mom received her patriarchal blessing and in it, it said that she would have children. I was born, and they gave me this Vietnamese name, because they had me by faith, then a little over a year later my other sister was born. This name Huu Tin, in reverse means saint. So there's my name background. Luckily my parents didn't give me the English name Faith, which is a girl's name, while my name in Vietnamese is a boy's name.
Faith as we know is a belief in something that we can't see, but is true. Sometimes we are asked what faith are we? Because faith tends to be synonymous with religion.We have faith in God, although we can't see Him. There are several things that cannot be seen by the naked eye, for instance the atoms in the air we breath, the electricity that powers everything, the wind when it cools and blows, and yet we know they exist.
This is more than a word, and it is not passive at all, it is very active.
Joseph Smith Jr. wrote this about faith.
1. "... as faith is the moving cause of all action in temporal concerns, so it is in spiritual."
2. "... faith is not only the principle of action, but of power also."
3. "Faith then, is the first great governing principle in which has power, dominion, and authority over all things."
So in everything there is faith. To me the true meaning of faith is knowing in your mind and in your heart that although you can't see or feel it, the thing that you are most believing in is there. And if that alone motivates you to be better, to be happier, then keep having faith in it.
To be continued..."be not faithless, but believing."
Faith is a choice. We often say that faith is an action. This action is the CHOICE to believe. We are often faced with this choice, on a near constant basis in fact. Faith in God means choosing to see His hand in our daily lives, even if it could just as easily be coincidence. This choice to believe is constantly tried and it is only after we have passed these "trials of faith" that our conviction may be confirmed. That is to say that only after we have been confronted with evidence that is contrary to our belief in God and yet decide in our hearts that we CHOOSE to believe in Him anyway will the spirit descend and comfort us (and make no mistake it is at these times when our faith has been tried that we most need the effects of comforter). Indeed it is as Christ said to Thomas "...because thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe." John 20:29. Christ does not pronounce a blessing upon Thomas even though he is currently in a state of belief; He instead pronounces those who were presented with evidence contrary to his Godhood (His death upon the cross) and yet believed Him to be the Son of God as blessed.
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