Little Things, What Really Influences, On Doubt
The Disciple-Leader Newsletter #33 // September 9, 2023.
Discipleship. Leadership. Mental Performance.
DISCIPLESHIP
"My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."
2 Kings 5:13-14
We are wired to think that something must not be that important if it is small or simple. We do this all the time.
We'll buy our spouse a really nice Christmas or anniversary gift but fail to take them on a weekly date.
We'll spend 2+ hours a week at church and other meetings, but fail to give God 10 minutes of our time each day.
We'll workout hard for an hour on Saturday but fail to move our bodies the rest of the week.
There are countless examples of thinking we are doing something big when in reality we are neglecting the little things that make the biggest difference.
John Gottman is a world-renowned social scientist who has conducted 50+ years of research on what makes for successful and happy marriages. He summarized his biggest findings into just one sentence: “Successful long-term relationships are created through small words, small gestures, and small acts.”
The same is true in our relationship with God.
A flourishing eternal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is created through small words, small gestures, and small acts. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6).
Don't let the word small confuse you. Think about it. It takes big love to do a little thing for your spouse. To make the bed or do the dishes when you know they have a busy day. While it's a small act it reflects big love. In fact, doing a small thing for your spouse (when nobody but you two will know about it) expresses greater love than doing a big thing that others can see. Because if others know about it, maybe part of your motive is to look good. When you do something in the unseen hours that nobody else can see, that reflects genuine love. Perhaps this is why Christ emphasized private acts of devotion: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" (3 Nephi 13:6).
Does it take more faith to go to church where your neighborhood will see if you are there or not, or to spend personal time with Him each day where only you and He know about it? As one pastor taught, it takes big faith to do little things.
"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things. I am tempted to think there are no little things." - Bruce Barton
LEADERSHIP
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer
If you want to influence others for good, if you want to teach, if you want to lead, if you want to communicate something to someone and have it sink deep into their heart, it won't be with your words.
You are the message. Your words will only sink to the depths of someone's heart to the degree that you embody the message you're trying to communicate. Without the power of example, words will only float at the surface level.
Example 1: "Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart." - Enos 1:3
His father, Jacob, was as solid a disciple-leader as they come. He walked the talk. Consequently, his words sunk into his son's heart.
Example 2: "Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words." - Alma 39:11
The correlation between conduct and words is crystal clear. The power of your words is directly correlated to the strength of your example.
So consider, if people followed your example today instead of your advice, where would you be leading them?
MENTAL PERFORMANCE
“I heard someone say recently, 'It is okay to have doubts.' I wonder about that. The Lord said, 'Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.' I have a lot of questions; I don’t have any doubts.”
Lawrence E. Corbridge
A popular religious teacher shared a video this week where he taught, "Jesus did not call us to live a life free from doubt."
That got me thinking a lot about doubt. Both spiritual doubt and self-doubt. I disagree with his teaching.
First off, doubt is normal. In fact, doubt is a default setting of the natural man. We have a natural bias towards fear, doubt, worry, and negativity. It's embedded in our fallen nature.
So if you struggle with doubt (whether it's spiritual doubt or self-doubt), nothing is wrong with you. You're normal.
However, I disagree with the notion that "Jesus did not call us to live a life free from doubt." Let's examine what His word says regarding doubt.
"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." - D&C 6:36
“Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” - Alma 56:47
“And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe — that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by His marvelous power. Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.” - Alma 56:26-27
"And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; and they were bidden to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt." - Helaman 5:49
"And now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled." - 3 Nephi 5:1
"O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing." - Mormon 9:27
While doubt is normal to the natural man, it is not a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to live by the higher law. Jesus is clear about His call for us to eliminate doubt from our minds.
Ancient scripture is clear on doubt. Jesus Himself is clear (D&C 6:36). What about modern-day prophets?
“We cannot know what faith is if we have never had it, and we cannot obtain it as long as we deny it. Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.” - Thomas S. Monson (2009 speaking as the prophet)
"Where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be. For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time; so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence; and where unshaken confidence is not there faith is weak; and where faith is weak the persons will not be able to contend against all the opposition, tribulations, and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them." - Joseph Smith (Lectures on Faith)
The same principle applies to self-doubt. The Lord is calling us to abandon it!
“It is a denial of the divinity within us to doubt our potential and our possibilities." - James E. Faust.
Often, we mistakenly teach that doubt is acceptable, likely with the motive to help those who struggle with it feel better about themselves. This is like teaching that sin is acceptable. We shouldn't teach this. We should teach that doubt is normal, just like sin. We all doubt. We all sin. Nobody is perfect. It's normal. But Jesus does not condone sin and He doesn't condone doubt either.
This teaching of Jesus is a hard saying (John 6:60). It puts more responsibility on us to control ourselves and develop a firm mind.
It's pleasing unto the carnal mind (Alma 30:53) to hear that it's okay to doubt. Or that it's alright to not believe certain doctrines. But it's only pleasing to our carnal minds because it speaks to the natural man in us.
Jesus couldn't be more clear on doubt. "Doubt not". Put a "thou shalt" in front of it and you have Mount Sinai language (paraphrasing Elder Holland). It's not a suggestion. It's a commandment from Christ Himself.
Disciple-Leadership: Jesus-led. Lead like Jesus.