What is Faith, Really?--How I have come to understand Faith.

Faith—The First Principle of the Gospel

-Jennifer Earl Norton

Throughout my life, I have many times heard reference to the bible scripture, Matthew 17:20, where Jesus tells his disciples,

“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

To me, this scripture has always been a troublesome one. As a young child, I tried using the pure faith of a child to move a mountain, but it did not work. I knew that the Savior only spoke truths, yet I could not see this scripture come to pass in my life. As I have grown older, this scripture is one that has continued to come to my mind and demand my ponderance. I have heard many explanations of what it means. One such explanation compares the minute size of the mustard seed to our faith, suggesting that if we can obtain but a small amount of faith, then nothing will be impossible to us. This explanation has left me increasingly perplexed as I have known, with certainty, that I do, indeed, have at least a small amount of faith, yet I continue to be unable to move mountains.

What then could this scripture possibly mean? From my search to answer this particular question have sprung two more very important questions:

1. What is faith?

and

2. Once I understand what the phrase “faith as a grain of mustard seed” actually means, how can I apply it to my life?

I will address the first here: What is faith?

Alma 32:21 explains “faith is not to have perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” Verse 26 continues “Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.” As I have pondered this scripture, I have realized that it describes faith by explaining what it is NOT. Therefore, if faith is NOT a perfect knowledge, I must understand what a perfect knowledge is, in order to understand what it is NOT. So, what is a “perfect knowledge”? Elder Russell M. Nelson, from the quorum of the twelve apostles gave the following description of the word “perfect” in his November 1995 Ensign article entitled “Perfection Pending.” He states:

In Matt. 5:48, the term perfect was translated from the Greek teleios, which means “complete.” Teleios is an adjective derived from the noun telos, which means “end.” The infinitive form of the verb is teleiono, which means “to reach a distant end, to be fully developed, to consummate, or to finish.” End qoute. Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 86

Understanding the Greek translation of “perfect” to mean “complete” or “fully developed,” it follows that “faith is not to have a [‘complete’] knowledge”—not to have a ‘fully developed’ knowledge. If faith is not to have a complete or fully developed knowledge, than it must be to have an incomplete or underdeveloped knowledge. However, it is, in fact, a measure of knowledge. What kind of knowledge is it? Let me suggest a very useful definition of faith that has opened, for me, a whole new understanding of the scriptures:

FAITH is to have a working knowledge acquired through the application and observation of true principles.

Or, another description of FAITH could be a growing knowledge acquired through the application and observation of true principles.

Now, with this new understanding of faith, we can address the second question: What does the phrase “faith as a grain of mustard seed” actually mean, and how does it apply to my life? What does Christ mean when he tells us, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you”?

Rather than comparing our faith only to the size of a mustard seed, let us compare our faith to the growth of a mustard seed. Christ describes this growth in Matthew 13:32. He explains that the mustard seed is “the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” Like the mustard seed, our faith will begin as a very small, limited, amount of knowledge that, in itself, does little for us. In fact, the seed is eaten by birds just as a very small, limited amount of knowledge can be easily quenched by adversity. But, if continually nourished and cared for, the “least of all seeds” will grow to thousands times it’s size and strength to become “the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” So it is with faith. As our faith, or knowledge, is continually nourished, it grows and strengthens. In fact, it becomes strong enough for others to temporarily “perch” on. In other words, our faith, our working or growing knowledge, if built upon, can become a “perfect knowledge,” a complete knowledge, like that of our Father in Heaven, making “nothing . . . impossible unto [us].”

How do we obtain and maintain faith?

Once we understand what faith is, we must come to understand how to obtain, maintain, and build upon our faith. How do we obtain faith in this life? How do we build up our faith—build upon our working knowledge—until it becomes a perfect knowledge? The answers lie in the scriptures. The scriptures compare faith and its acquisition to experimentation. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”—subtance, evidence! of things hoped for. The Topical guide likens “hope” to “expectation”. Substituting this word into Hebrews 11:1 we read “faith is the substance of things [expected], the evidence of things not seen.” Is this not the same as the knowledge we acquire in all subjects, through the scientific process? We obtain evidence by applying an experiment to our hypothesis—to our expectation. Similarly, Alma 32 challenges us to “experiment” upon the word. Verses 27-34 read:

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more that desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge. But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every good seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness. Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your soul, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.

Thus we see that we can acquire faith (or, our working knowledge) in the same way that we acquire any knowledge here on the earth. We start with hope: a seed, (i.e., a question—a hypothesis, an expectation). Then we put that seed, that hypothesis, to the test. If it is a good seed, a true principle, it will “begin to swell within our breasts,” “enlarge our souls,” and “enlighten our understandings”. In other words, our experiment will show that our hypothesis was correct. It, therefore, increases our faith—it increases our knowledge. As the true principle is applied to our lives, we see how it works and come to understand the truth of that principle. In other words, we confirm our hypothesis and gain a portion of truth, and our “mind doth begin to expand”. Conversely, if the seed is bad, we see that it does not grow, it does not work, and we “cast it away”. We refute our hypothesis, deeming it untrue, gaining a knowledge of its falsehood. As we acquire knowledge in this way, we use each bit of knowledge to make more hypotheses, to develop more hope, expectations or seeds, to experiment upon. This allows us to gain a deeper and deeper understanding of eternal truths (i.e., it allows us to increase our faith). Each degree of knowledge we obtain is necessary to help us understand the next, deeper degree of knowledge. If we never learned algebra, we would never comprehend calculus. We build upon our knowledge as we spiritually grow older, like a child builds upon his knowledge as he grows older and progresses through school. Faith is developed ‘line upon line”.

However, as with all knowledge we obtain, we can lose a measure of our faith if we do not continue to seek to more fully develop it. After we graduate from school, if we do not continue to study and apply the information we learned there, then that knowledge is lost from our memory. For example, as I entered college, I could speak Spanish almost fluently. But, now most of it has been lost from my memory. Why? Because I have not continued to study and apply it. So it is with faith. If we become lazy or complacent, and stop studying, searching for, and applying our faith, then it withdraws from us, and we cannot build upon or grow from it.

Why do we need faith?

Understanding what faith is and its potential as we obtain, maintain, and build upon it is useless if we do not also understand why it is needed or desired—why it is important for us to seek out knowledge, to develop our faith. Without understanding its importance, we will have no desire to incorporate faith into our lives, deeming our understanding of this principle obsolete. If our ultimate goal is to become like Christ, to develop His pure love, or charity, the development of our faith will bring us to that goal. FAITH is the key to our metamorphosis. I would like to share a true story about Steven R. Covey as written in his book “6 Events.” He tells of an experience he had when riding the New York City Subway one Sunday morning. He relates:

“It was a fairly quiet ride until a father and his children entered our subway car. The children seemed completely undisciplined and unruly, and they violated the whole spirit of that calm, Sabbath morning. They were running around, jumping up and down, pulling people’s newspapers down, and even purposefully bumping into people. The father sat right next to me, put his head down, and didn’t even try to control them. After waiting several minutes to see if he was going to do something about them, I turned to him and said, ‘Sir, don’t you think you could handle your children a little better? They are upsetting a lot of people.’ He looked up as if he had just become aware of the problem, and then he said, ‘Oh, I know. I’m sorry. We have come from the hospital where my wife just died. I guess the kids don’t quite know how to take it, and, frankly, I don’t either.’ . . . I suddenly desired with all my heart to help that family. Why? Because I now had a different map of the same reality—a map that was more accurate.”

From this experience, we see that the amount of knowledge that Stephen Covey had of that particular situation dictated his behavior. Without the knowledge of the mother’s death, Stephen Covey felt upset with the man and his children. At that point, he certainly could have chosen to be nice and helpful to the man, but it would have required a considerable amount of effort to overcome his prejudgment of the situation and genuinely try to be helpful and loving. However, once he gained the knowledge of the death of the children’s mother, the man’s wife, he instantly wanted to help. There was no need for effort. It was a natural reaction to the circumstances. He, as he described it, had a “paradigm shift,” meaning, he saw the situation in a new light or, as he put it, “had a different map of the same reality—a map that was more accurate.” How do we obtain a more accurate map of the same reality? We increase our knowledge, we develop our faith. Faith makes following the commandments and living and abiding by true principles almost automatic. It simplifies life and allows us to naturally live the way our Father in Heaven would have us live. The more knowledge we obtain (or in other words, the more we build upon the working knowledge we call faith), the more we naturally become like Christ.

Many times, throughout my life, I have come home from church meetings feeling a

rejuvenation and a renewed desire and motivation to “start doing everything right”. I think,

I am going to study my scriptures for 15 minutes every day. I am going to pray morning and night and with every meal. I am going to treat everyone with kindness and patience. I am going to drop everything when I see someone in need of service. I am going to exercise regularly and prepare and eat healthy meals. I am going to write in my journal weekly. I’m going to attend the temple monthly. I am going to update my food storage, etc.

These goals don’t seem too lofty on Sabbath evenings, after I have spent the day pondering eternal truths and discussing with my ward family the reasons for our lives here on earth. But, when the mundane tasks of life return on Monday, and the children prod and persist and try my patience, and the doctor’s office is telling me to pay bills that the insurance company has promised to cover, and the plumbing springs a leak, and so on, these goals seem to fall by the wayside, leaving me feeling helpless and overwhelmed. Then, when I prepare for the Sabbath, and my thoughts and goals from the previous week return to mind, I realize that I have, once again, failed at the most important goals of life. I feel discouraged and want to give up. Then, after a calm, meditative Sabbath, I once again, return home from my church meetings ready to “start doing everything right” and excited for the changes I am going to make in my life. Perhaps I succeed at one or two of my goals that week, or even for a few weeks, but then the stresses of daily activities envelop me once again, and my goals dissipate into the whirling bustle of life. The cycle seems to repeat itself over and over until I feel so overwhelmed that I feel I can take it no longer.

This vicious cycle is one that many of us find ourselves in. It becomes discouraging and we feel like we want to give up. Why is it not effective? Because we are trying to run “faster than we have strength” (as warned against in Mosiah 4:27 and D&C 10:4). How do we break the cycle? We create a better map of the same reality. We increase our working knowledge, our faith. Rather than overwhelming ourselves by trying to run faster than we have strength—by trying to “do everything right” at once, let us first start with a single task. Let us work to increase our faith—to increase our knowledge of truth. Then, like Steven Covey on the subway, we will be creating for ourselves a more accurate map of the same reality. We will do what is right with ease, as a natural consequence of our knowledge of eternal truths. We will naturally become more like Christ. Faith, therefore, is directly related to developing charity, the pure love of Christ—as we increase our faith, we become more like Christ. If faith, or knowledge, makes living true principles easier, then it’s no wonder that faith is the first principle of the gospel.

It is my prayer that we will go a step further than just “believing” or just “hoping” the gospel is true. That we will plant that seed and focus our efforts on increasing our knowledge of true principles, so that we may discover and know for ourselves that the gospel is true. That we will apply our faith throughout our lives to beget more faith and become more like Christ. That through our search for knowledge and truth we will create for ourselves a “more accurate map” of our reality, allowing us to more naturally abide by gospel principles. That we will increase our knowledge of—our faith in—our Father in Heaven. So, that when times in our lives come, where our knowledge is limited, we can trust in the Lord that we will be guided and directed, for we will know Him as He is, and know His divine nature and power and unconditional love for us. That we will nurture our faith like a mustard seed, developing perfect faith, a complete knowledge. And, that as we do this, our actions and behavior will be dictated by the eternal truths that we come to understand, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.