The Shield of Faith
We read in the Bible about the shield of faith in Ephesians 6:16. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." The shield of faith, if cultivated and constantly maintained, will be a strength to us all when those fiery darts of the wicked come attacking us.
There are many ways to cultivate and maintain this shield of faith which has been referred to in various portions of the Bible. In a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer, he mentions 6 things things that help us to forge such a shield.
6 Things that strengthen your shield of faith
Reverence
Reverence is profound respect and love. A reverent attitude toward God includes honoring Him, expressing gratitude to Him, and obeying His commandments. Reverent behavior includes prayer, scripture study, fasting, and payment of tithes and offerings.
Courage
There will be many times when we need to make a stand for the things that we believe in when others will bring opposition or come out against us. We must be willing before hand to make the point to stand up for what we believe and never allowing others to persuade us otherwise. For those who make the choice now to commit to never do the things which God has asked us not to do will be able to stand up with courage and say no, being firm in what they believe.
Chastity
Chastity means being pure and clean before the Lord. He has asked us to not indulge or take part in anything that would defile our bodies or arouse any emotions that are sacred and should be within the bounds of marriage and procreation. We should show our appreciation and love to God as we obey these commandments and keep ourselves clean and worthy before Him. As we stay clean and pure we are more perceptive to the things of God, and able to feel of His Spirit more freely.
Repentance
Each and every day we all make mistakes and need to repent for those things. We may not make huge drastic sins, but we fall short to the expectation that God has for us, and that we, by extension, have for ourselves. This is the very reason why we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ to help us to change and be clean. It is a constant effort that we need to take, to humbly come to Heavenly Father and seek forgiveness. We are to ask Him for forgiveness for the things we do wrong and commit to strive to do better.
Forgiveness
God will forgive whom He will forgive, and when we fully repent, He will forgive us, but we have been commanded to forgive everyone. Forgiveness is a divine attribute of God and as we develop this more in our life, we open our hearts up to God and strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. We let go of those burdens and come to love others as Christ does, becoming like Him. Forgiving others is a commandment but we also need to forgive ourselves. We are the hardest on ourselves and the last person we forget to be loving and forgiving to is the person looking back at us in the mirror.
Compassion
Compassion is an act of faith on our part. Having faith in Christ helps us to become like Him, and one way to do so is to act as he would. Compassion, one of the most important attributes God holds, helps us to follow Christ more willingly with faith and trust in Him, it adds to our shield of faith and protects in a way that we can never fully understand. Compassion means to care for others, to serve them and love them as Christ does. All of these things builds on our faith, opening our hearts to God to feel more of his Spirit.
"It takes the steady strength of a father to hammer out the metal of it and the tender hands of a mother to polish and fit it on. Sometimes one parent is left to do it alone. It is difficult, but it can be done. This shield of faith is not manufactured on an assembly line, only handmade in a cottage industry."
President Boyd K. Packer
If you'd like to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can click here to chat live with real missionaries!
There are many ways to cultivate and maintain this shield of faith which has been referred to in various portions of the Bible. In a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer, he mentions 6 things things that help us to forge such a shield.
6 Things that strengthen your shield of faith
Reverence
Reverence is profound respect and love. A reverent attitude toward God includes honoring Him, expressing gratitude to Him, and obeying His commandments. Reverent behavior includes prayer, scripture study, fasting, and payment of tithes and offerings.
Courage
There will be many times when we need to make a stand for the things that we believe in when others will bring opposition or come out against us. We must be willing before hand to make the point to stand up for what we believe and never allowing others to persuade us otherwise. For those who make the choice now to commit to never do the things which God has asked us not to do will be able to stand up with courage and say no, being firm in what they believe.
Chastity
Chastity means being pure and clean before the Lord. He has asked us to not indulge or take part in anything that would defile our bodies or arouse any emotions that are sacred and should be within the bounds of marriage and procreation. We should show our appreciation and love to God as we obey these commandments and keep ourselves clean and worthy before Him. As we stay clean and pure we are more perceptive to the things of God, and able to feel of His Spirit more freely.
Repentance
Each and every day we all make mistakes and need to repent for those things. We may not make huge drastic sins, but we fall short to the expectation that God has for us, and that we, by extension, have for ourselves. This is the very reason why we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ to help us to change and be clean. It is a constant effort that we need to take, to humbly come to Heavenly Father and seek forgiveness. We are to ask Him for forgiveness for the things we do wrong and commit to strive to do better.
Forgiveness
God will forgive whom He will forgive, and when we fully repent, He will forgive us, but we have been commanded to forgive everyone. Forgiveness is a divine attribute of God and as we develop this more in our life, we open our hearts up to God and strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. We let go of those burdens and come to love others as Christ does, becoming like Him. Forgiving others is a commandment but we also need to forgive ourselves. We are the hardest on ourselves and the last person we forget to be loving and forgiving to is the person looking back at us in the mirror.
Compassion
Compassion is an act of faith on our part. Having faith in Christ helps us to become like Him, and one way to do so is to act as he would. Compassion, one of the most important attributes God holds, helps us to follow Christ more willingly with faith and trust in Him, it adds to our shield of faith and protects in a way that we can never fully understand. Compassion means to care for others, to serve them and love them as Christ does. All of these things builds on our faith, opening our hearts to God to feel more of his Spirit.
"It takes the steady strength of a father to hammer out the metal of it and the tender hands of a mother to polish and fit it on. Sometimes one parent is left to do it alone. It is difficult, but it can be done. This shield of faith is not manufactured on an assembly line, only handmade in a cottage industry."
President Boyd K. Packer
If you'd like to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can click here to chat live with real missionaries!
