Grounded and Settled

To my son, 

                This week in the Come, Follow Me lesson we find this counsel from Paul, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister…. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 1:23, 2:7). We want to each develop strong spiritual roots and be grounded in the Savior and His gospel so that when challenges and temptations come, we can stand strong and not be moved. Just like it takes time to grow the roots of a tree, this takes time for us to do and consistent effort. But as we seek to do those things you have learned to do—read the scriptures, attend Church, pray, and keep the commandments—you will become more and more grounded and able to withstand those things that would move you away from the gospel.

In this video, Elder Andersen spoke about how trees can develop strong roots and branches to withstand heavy winds. He taught that we will need to do the same: “More concerning than the prophesied earthquakes and wars are the spiritual whirlwinds that can uproot you from your spiritual foundations and land your spirit in places you never imagined possible, sometimes without your hardly noticing that you have been moved. The worst whirlwinds are the temptations of the adversary. Sin always has been and always will be a part of this world. But it has never been so accessible, insatiable, and acceptable.” He then taught what will help us to withstand these temptations: “How do you prepare for your whirlwinds? ‘Remember ... 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, ... his shafts in the whirlwind, ... when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power ... to drag you down ... because of the rock upon which ye are built.’ This is your safety in the whirlwind.” Indeed, the Savior is our strength and must be our foundation. You have started building upon that foundation in your life through baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, and you strengthen it each time you do things that invite the Spirit to remain in your life. There will undoubtedly be difficult days ahead for you and me, but if we have built our foundation on Jesus Christ, He will strengthen, protect, and bless us no matter winds swirl around us.

                We have had our own object lesson in our backyard that I hope you will remember. The original shed that came with our house was not very strong, and in a really bad windstorm it got completely blown over and torn apart. Even though it was on a strong foundation—a cement pad—I never secured it to the cement like I should have, and it was destroyed when the strong winds came. Now we have a new shed which is bigger and made of solid wood, secure on the cement foundation and ready to withstand any windstorm that may come. You and I don’t want to be like the first shed that can’t hold up in strong winds; instead, we must secure ourselves to the foundation of Jesus Christ and hold fast to His commandments, His Church, His prophets, and His holy word so that nothing can pull us down. We want to be “a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken” (Isaiah 33:20). I hope that you and I will make our lives grounded, settled, and rooted on Jesus Christ so that our faith will never be taken down.  

Love,

Dad