“Become an Instrument in the Hands of God by Strengthening Your Personal Testimony of Jesus Christ,” Liahona, Feb. 2007, 25

Visiting Teaching Message:

Become an Instrument in the Hands of God by Strengthening Your Personal Testimony of Jesus Christ

Prayerfully select and read from this message the scriptures and teachings that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Share your experiences and testimony. Invite those you teach to do the same.

How Can I Strengthen My Testimony?

Alma 32:27: “Experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you.”

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Honestly evaluate your personal life. How strong is your own testimony? Is it truly a sustaining power in your life, or is it more a hope that what you have learned is true? … Your testimony will be fortified as you exercise faith in Jesus Christ, in His teachings, and in His limitless power. … A powerful testimony distills from quiet moments of prayer and pondering. … A strong testimony comes line upon line, precept upon precept. It requires faith, time, consistent obedience, and a willingness to sacrifice” (“The Power of a Strong Testimony,” Liahona, Jan. 2002, 101–3; Ensign, Nov. 2001, 87–88).

Bishop Keith B. McMullin, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric: “Acquiring … a testimony does not … come without personal effort. One must desire to know, study to learn, live to merit, and pray to receive. When so pursued in humility and faith, the knowledge comes, and with this knowledge comes both the sweet assurance that all will be well and the inner strength to make it so” (“Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2004, 33).

How Can My Testimony Lead Me to Do God’s Will?

Moroni 10:32: “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “It is not … enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something. … This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ. … Charity, ‘the pure love of Christ’ (Moro. 7:47), is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes” (“The Challenge to Become,” Liahona, Jan. 2001, 40–42; Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32–34).

Anne C. Pingree, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: “We can rejoice together in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, gratefully acknowledging the blessing of having a testimony of the Savior and His Atonement for each of us. This I know—our individual efforts to become instruments in the hands of God have not been easy and have stretched us spiritually, enriching our mortal journeys in the most personal, glorious ways” (“Knowing the Lord’s Will for You,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2005, 114).