Here are some of my favorite scriptures about faith.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1)
"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni 7:33)
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13)
"For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7)
"...that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:3)
"...faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21)
"For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith" (Ether 12:12)
For me, faith is developed as I am obedient to the laws of God and receive the blessings that come with that obedience. But I have to ask myself if I am only obedient because I get blessings or would I be obedient regardless of any reward from God. This is a hard question to ask because God is a loving Heavenly Father and He has already promised us the greatest of all blessings: to live life as He lives it. So with that in mind, I think I can say that I am strongly motivated by the promised blessing of eternal life but that I don't absolutely need the immediate blessings from following the commandments to be obedient. I hope that makes sense. As President Monson often says, "the heavenly virtue of patience is required." So patience leads to faith as well, but then patience is a form of obedience so now I am going in circles. I hope that we can all go forward with faith and patience, looking to a bright future despite the obstacles that get in our way.
Well said! :-} mom
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