The Truth

There always seems to be one person in my facebook network who (for reasons never stated) decides to no longer believe in God and be very, very vocal about it. I have known three in the last 2 years. The things that they each have in common is that they were all married in the temple at one point, are returned missionaries, have been divorced, and now are very open about their love for alcohol, getting drunk, sexual activities and use very vulgar language in their status updates.

What's very good about it is that no one cares to judge them or question their new lifestyle but for some reason these three people feel the need to continuously attack the gospel and all of it's principals. They are very defensive even though no one is criticizing. It's almost as though they are looking to stir the pot and create contention. It seems as thought they must feel some sort of guilt and this is how they deal with it. It's as if they are not happy but they want to convince everyone they are. At least that's how it started.

They post status updates several times a day about how ridiculous the gospel is and in a sense they mock it. Then after that gets old and they aren't getting a reaction anymore - they then claim that now they no longer believe in God. Instead of leaving it at that - they make a big effort to convince other people to do the same. They become consumed by the topic and all their status updates only have to do with denying God, and "the foolishness of people who believe in God".

This has been pressing on my mind lately. It's one thing to believe something and it's another thing to attack others all day long for not believing the same as you. If you were truly happy with your beliefs, why would you feel the need to put others down? It's almost as if you are not happy. Deep down you are torn apart - yet you are trying to convey to others that you are happier than you have ever been and you finally have found the truth and have been liberated! It's as though deep down you really don't believe what you are preaching. You know that the message you are sending isn't the truth. It's a just a truth that you have made your own truth.

The Holy Ghost is a witness of truth. When the Holy Ghost stands behind your message you are building up others, not tearing them down. You are looking to spread positive news, not negative. You have an open mind and are not looking to argue or prove a point. You are humble about it and loving. That is how you discern truth from error.

Without the Holy Ghost you are quick to be deceived. Satan preaches that whatever is convenient and benefits YOU is the way to happiness. The Lord's way is not always convenient or easy and usually involves helping OTHERS.  When you deny God - then you have no one to answer to. You create your own rules - whatever makes you happy. After all, there is no sin if there is no God - right? How appealing to those who do not want a guilty conscience, or have to face responsibility or accountability for their choices.

When I heard President Uchtdorf''s CES talk today titled "What is Truth?", I couldn't have been more happy to hear him nail this subject right on the head. This is very worth your time if you have 30 minutes. The Spirit is powerful in his words.