The Virtue of Courage

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the from of every virtue at the testing point." C.S. Lewis 

I love reading the story of Esther. I think she is such a good reminder of what it takes to be courageous. The Gospel and truth and righteousness are something that we should stand up for no matter what.  I just love how Esther says, “if I perish, I perish.” She knows that she needs to do in order to save her people, and she is willing to die if she has to. I just really admire that she has the courage to do that. I think that I could certainly be a little better about having courage to stand up for what’s right. Sometimes I’m too scared to speak up or stand up to someone, but reading about Esther and her incredible faith gives me hope that I can learn to do that and pray for the strength to always stand up for what’s right. Do we love the Gospel so much that we’re willing to lay our lives down for it? Do we do all we can in order to protect truth and righteousness? I think these are questions we should be asking ourselves everyday and they will help us to become better advocates of the Gospel.

Eternal Identities

One thing that I've learned throughout my Family Foundations class is that we were all sent here with a divine purpose. We already knew who we were before we came to this earth, and a big part of that is our gender. Each of us was created for a specific purpose. In "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" it says, "All human beings- male and female- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."

The Fundamentals

In The Family: A Proclamation to the World, the first paragraph states, "We the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children." 

Families are so important. In order to be exalted and return to our Father in Heaven we must be sealed in the temple and live our life here on earth in family units. In a world where so many people ridicule and try to undermine the family, it's important that we do everything we can to protect our families and nurture them. They are the most important and rewarding things that we will have while we're here on earth. We should do everything we can to ensure that our homes are safe and a place where Christ is the center. When we keep Christ at the center of our homes we are blessed beyond belief, keeping Him the center provides a protection like none other.