Confidence in the Presence of God
As we diligently seek to have charity and virtue fill our lives, our confidence in approaching God will increase.
My dear brothers and sisters, I am grateful to speak to you today in this important general conference. Why is this one important? Is is specially important or are they all important? My eyes continue to get older. Thank you for your understanding as I deliver my message. This is not specific. Are his "older" eyes wiser? He didn't say he couldn't see well. What is it that we "understand"? What do WE have "eyes to see"?
We live in a day of great momentum in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am filled with joy as I see progress in so many areas.(1) Where are we gaining momentum? Where is our progress?
I am especially inspired by our youth. They are giving service in large numbers. They are seeking their ancestors and performing ordinances in the temple. Our young men and women are submitting applications for missionary service in record numbers. The rising generation is rising up as stalwart followers of Jesus Christ.
Recently I met a new great-granddaughter. When I contemplate the challenges she will experience in her life, I feel a great desire to help her build faith in Jesus Christ. Living His gospel is essential for her future happiness. It will take faith in Jesus Christ to live His gospel. You won't be happy if you don't.
She, like each of us, will face challenges. We all will experience illness, disappointment, temptation, and loss. These challenges can knock our self-confidence. However, disciples of Jesus Christ have access to a different kind of confidence.
When we make and keep covenants with God, we can have confidence that is born of the Spirit. The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that our confidence can “wax strong in the presence of God.”(2) Imagine the comfort of having confidence in the presence of God!
When I speak of having confidence before God, I am referring to having confidence in approaching God right now! I am referring to praying with confidence that Heavenly Father hears us, that He understands our needs better than we do. I am referring to having confidence that He loves us more than we can comprehend, that He sends angels to be with us and with those we love.(3) I am referring to having confidence that He yearns to help each of us reach our highest potential.
Now, how do we gain such confidence? The Lord answers this question with these words:
“Let thy bowels … be full of charity towards all men, … and
let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly;
then
thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.”(4)
There’s the key! In the Lord’s own words, charity and virtue open the way to having confidence before God! Brothers and sisters, we can do this! Our confidence can truly wax strong in the presence of God, right now!
Let’s consider both charity and virtue.
First, charity. Two years ago, I called upon us, as covenant followers of Jesus Christ, to be peacemakers. I repeat what I said then: “Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions.”(5)
True charity towards all men is the hallmark of peacemakers! It is imperative that we have charity in our discourse, both public and private. I thank those of you who took my previous counsel to heart. But we can still do better.
The present hostility in public dialogue and on social media is alarming. Hateful words are deadly weapons. Contention prevents the Holy Ghost from being our constant companion.(6)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we should lead the way as peacemakers. As charity becomes part of our nature, we will lose the impulse to demean others. We will stop judging others. We will have charity for those from all walks of life.(7) Charity towards all men is essential to our progress. Charity is the foundation of a godly character.
Let us plead with our Heavenly Father to fill our hearts with greater charity—especially for those who are difficult to love (8)—for charity is a gift from our Heavenly Father for true followers of Jesus Christ.(9) The Savior is the Prince of Peace.(10) We are to be His instruments for peace.
Now, let us speak of virtue. The Lord tells us to garnish our thoughts unceasingly with virtue. surround every thought with virtue. Imagine the boost you will receive to any positive thought when you enhance it with virtue. Virtue makes everything better and happier! On the other hand, imagine what will happen when you add virtue to an impure thought, a cruel thought, or a depressing thought. Virtue will drive away those thoughts. Virtue will free you from anxious, troublesome thoughts.
Brothers and sisters, as the world grows more wicked, we need to grow increasingly pure. Our thoughts, words, and actions need to be unfailingly virtuous and filled with the pure love of Jesus Christ towards all men. The great opportunity before us is to become the people God needs us to be.(11)
As Joseph Smith taught, “If [we] wish to go where God is, [we] must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 72). Likewise, the Apostle Paul gave the admonition that we should “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Regular worship in the house of the Lord increases our capacity for both virtue and charity. Thus, time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord. Increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not know the day or the hour of His coming.(12)But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that “great and dreadful day.”(13)
36 ¶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 ¶ Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
As we diligently seek to have charity and virtue fill our lives, our confidence in approaching God will increase. I invite you to take intentional steps to grow in your confidence before the Lord.(14)
The Lord has told us to “remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and] diligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:6). When we do, our confidence will increase, and then, in His own words, when we ask, we shall receive. And when we knock, it shall be opened unto us. (See Doctrine and Covenants 4:7.)
Then, as we go to our Heavenly Father with increasing confidence, we will be filled with more joy, and your faith in Jesus Christ will increase.(15)
We may experience what King Benjamin’s people did: “They were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 4:3).
We will begin to experience spiritual power that exceeds our greatest hopes.
We are grateful to the Lord for the acceleration of temple-building in recent years. Under His direction, today we announce plans to construct a temple in each of these 15 locations:
Reynosa, Mexico
Chorrillos, Peru
Rivera, Uruguay
Campo Grande, Brazil
Porto, Portugal
Uyo, Nigeria
San Jose del Monte, Philippines
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Liverpool, Australia
Caldwell, Idaho
Flagstaff, Arizona
Rapid City, South Dakota
Greenville, South Carolina
Norfolk, Virginia
Spanish Fork, Utah
I testify that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of Israel, leads this, His Church. He is preparing to come again. May we likewise prepare to receive Him. For this I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
1.
The little stone that the prophet Daniel saw in his dream of the latter days is rolling forth to fill the world (see Daniel 2:31–45; Doctrine and Covenants 65:2).
2.
3.
“For I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).
4.
Doctrine and Covenants 121:45, emphasis added; see also verse 46.
5.
Russell M. Nelson, “Peacemakers Needed,” Liahona, May 2023, 98.
6.
Choosing to contend with others is choosing to live without the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
7.
We are to have charity “towards all men, and to the household of faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45).
8.
This means praying “with all the energy of heart” (Moroni 7:48).
9.
See Moroni 7:48.
10.
See Isaiah 9:6.
11.
As Joseph Smith taught, “If [we] wish to go where God is, [we] must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 72). Likewise, the Apostle Paul gave the admonition that we should “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
12.
See Matthew 24:36–37.
13.
Malachi 4:5; see also Zephaniah 1:14–18.
14.
The Lord has told us to “remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and] diligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:6). When we do, our confidence will increase, and then, in His own words, when we ask, we shall receive. And when we knock, it shall be opened unto us. (See Doctrine and Covenants 4:7.)
15.
We may experience what King Benjamin’s people did: “They were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 4:3).
