Faith to Follow Jesus
I wrote this song a couple years ago while sitting in church. The words just flowed into me. It sounds like a very simple and lighthearted children’s song, but at the time the words were coming to me, I had tears in my eyes and my heart felt so full. Interested in studying deeper, read more below the song.
Principles Described in The Lyrics
Faith In Jesus Before Birth
This song starts with the word “IF”, but it is not as a question. It is a statement. I am stating that I did have faith to follow Jesus before I even came to Earth.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that all of us who have ever lived, chose to follow Jesus before we were born. We can’t remember this, but there was a war in the pre-existence where two of our brothers, Jesus and Lucifer, disagreed on what our mortal experience should be like. 1
Our Heavenly Father wanted us to come to Earth so our spiritual bodies could be united with a mortal body and gain needed experience. Lucifer wanted to make sure everyone made good choices, but he planned on doing it through force, and he wanted all the glory. Jesus didn’t want to take away our agency to choose, but he offered to carry and pay for our mistakes if we would repent, and he wanted no glory for himself.
I chose Jesus’ plan. We all did, however I wonder how risky it seemed? Were we afraid that Jesus wouldn’t be able to accomplish the task He said He would? Did we worry that he would back out of his agreement? I don’t know…but I like to think that the reason we could have so much faith in Jesus was because we knew him well, and we could feel how much he loved us.
Faith to be Baptized
The second verse of this song is about baptism. During His mortal ministry, Jesus showed taught us how to be baptized and encouraged us to follow His example.2 What is the purpose and meaning of baptism and why is it so important?
Baptism by immersion is symbolic of death and rebirth. When we are baptized we are metaphorically burying our “old self” in the water (symbolic of cleansing), and rise out of the water as a “new self” or a re-birth. It’s a beautifully simple way to say, “Jesus, I want to be your friend. I want to do your work.”
The gift of the Holy Ghost is given following baptism. We can have a spiritual member of the Godhead to help guide, comfort and protect us. What a beautiful gift!
Faith to Give Our Will to God
The third and forth verse speaks about something that is very hard for many of us, myself included. Giving our lives back to God, despite what “we want”. To me, it means having faith that God knows me and what’s best for me, more than I do. Sometimes that means letting go of the things that we really want, and trusting that there is something better in store for us (even if it is never actualized in this life). Often it means serving others unselfishly. It means not knowing all the answers immediately, or even where I am heading, but knowing that I will be guided, one small step at a time.
Application
What does this kind of faith look like in the real world?
Maybe it means following a prompting to call someone, even if you don’t know why. Maybe it means changing your focus less to money, and more to people. Maybe it means trying to forgive someone, even if they probably don’t deserve it. It can take so many different meanings. How do you apply faith to follow Jesus in your life?