Something I have pondered throughout my mission is a well known principle called faith. As a missionary you may know that I try to share the teachings of Jesus Christ with everyone! Recently my companion and I have been meeting with a young man who has many questions about faith. As I have pondered his questions I was reminded of an experience I had while attending school at Brigham Young University Idaho.
For those of you who may not be aware, this college does not have any official sports teams that compete with other colleges. We do, however, have a sports program that includes almost any kind of sport you can imagine! There are many different levels of competition. Some are just for fun and others are a little more competitive! There are probably many reasons as to why their program is set up this way, but I do not know them all. I do know that the program is mostly headed by the students, giving them the opportunity to serve each other and help one another cultivate their talents, through playing and coaching!
My first semester at this university I played on a competitive softball team which I very much enjoyed and loved! I had a very good coach who was not only talented in the skills of softball, but she understood and taught us the importance of the teachings of Christ and how they should be applied in our lives.
Our team was going through a losing streak when we first started the season and were beginning to get discouraged. Before one of our practices our coach sat us down and shared something that has stuck with me ever since that day. She explained a little bit about the purpose of the sports program at the school and told us that she believes it was an opportunity the school took to help us understand the central focus of our Savior, Jesus Christ and that He should be the center of all that we do. She said these simple words "we bring sports into the Gospel, not the Gospel into sports." She told us that she liked to win a game too, but that we shouldn't lose the focus of who we are and the purpose of the program. Think about her words for a minute... I have thought them on many occasions since that day and what they really meant. As I have recently pondered them with this young man's questions in mind I have been taught a lesson about faith in Jesus Christ. I have learned that when we make our Savior, Jesus Christ the center of our lives we prioritize what we do around Him and His commandments. We set eternal goals and high standards because we understand what He wants for us. We understand that He wants us to be happy. I know that as we exercise our faith in Christ by putting Him first in our lives we will find that happiness. Faith in Christ is simply the act of trusting Him enough to put Him first in our lives. It is simply living by His teachings. I know that it is worth it to put our Savior, Jesus Christ as the center of our lives because when we do, the goals we set and reach will bring eternal blessings for us and those that we love! This is what faith in Jesus Christ is to me. For that young man who has so many questions and doubts, this is my answer. As we make Jesus Christ the center of our lives, we will begin to make decisions that will bring us true happiness and joy and these are what will be with us forever! They will never end; it is a promise from our loving Father in Heaven who has created a perfect plan to ensure our happiness by inviting us to simply follow His Son, Jesus Christ, in all that we do! In this I know we will find joy! It is a plan that cannot fail, just as Helaman taught his sons in the Book of Mormon; "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whilrwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall haven o power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5:12 pg 378).
Just like at BYU-Idaho they don't bring the gospel into sports, but bring sports into the gospel. By centering Christ in our lives we won't wonder when we will have time for Him or try to simply make Him just a "part" of our lives, but we will mold our lives around Him and as a consequence He will become a part of us and will be with us everywhere we go! With Christ in our everyday life we become those He prayed for in the New Testament of the Bible in John 17:15-16. "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." I know we can find safety through the evils of our day by living a Christ-centered life!
Love, Sister Lowder
