Friend to Friend

Stand for What You Believe

By Elder James R. Rasband

Of the Seventy

From an interview with Sydney Squires.

When I was growing up, my mom talked to me about the gospel. She talked about it every day, not just on Sundays. She loved stories from the Old Testament.

My favorite story was about David and Goliath. David was just a young shepherd. Goliath was a huge, strong soldier. When David went to fight Goliath, David didn’t wear any armor. His only weapon was a sling to throw small stones.

But David stood for what he believed. He wasn’t alone. God’s power was with him. He beat Goliath.

My mom liked to tell me what David said to Goliath: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45). I knew my mom trusted that God would be with us. He would help us even when we faced Goliath-sized challenges.

This was an important lesson for me. Where I grew up, I was often the only Church member at school, on my sports teams, or with friends. Because of my beliefs, I spoke and acted differently than many of my friends. This led to a lot of talks with my friends about the Church. My close friends respected me. Other times people teased me. But I was never embarrassed by my beliefs. I felt proud to stand for something.

When we live the gospel, we will be different. The Apostle Peter said we would be “peculiar” (1 Peter 2:9). And that’s OK. We don’t need to worry about being different when we stand for what we believe.

Illustration by Jared Beckstrand