I believe in Jesus Christ

When I was a kid, I had a pretty good idea what I believed and why I believed it. I believed in God the Eternal Father, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. The reason I believed was simple – it was what my parents taught me to believe. It wasn’t until I was about 13 when my witness of Jesus Christ became uniquely mine.

I grew up in a traditional Mormon family near the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Church. Within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon Church), the youth ministry – Young Mens and Young Women or Mutual – works very hard to keep teenagers interested in the gospel and to build understanding and faith, which leads to personal conviction. My experience in the Young Men’s organization was not unique. I went to the weekly activities, participated in meetings on Sunday, and was a Boy Scout. It was a great way to grow up.

Every year, our youth leaders would put together a scripture Read-a-Thon. The year I turned 13, my leaders decided to study the New Testament and focus on the life and ministry of the Savior. After school on a Friday, all the youth ages 12 through 18 went to a local chapel with our scriptures, our favorite pillows and blankets and an eager stomach ready to munch on a lot of the free goodies that our leaders provided. Little did I know that the nourishment my soul was going to receive would far outweigh the caloric intake of licorice, Sprite, and Capri Sun. It would be the beginnings of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Over the next two days, I listened to my leaders minister about the life, example, atonement, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many of the stories of Jesus sunk deep into my soul. One in particular was the story of the Ten Lepers.

Ten leprous men came to Jesus to seek a blessing of healing of their painful and severely unpopular affliction. The Lord did indeed heal all 10, but only one remained behind to show his gratitude to the Master Healer. The Lord asked this grateful man, “Were there not 10, but where are the nine?” Then upon that newly cleansed man the Savior pronounced perhaps the better blessing, the more eternal blessing, that “his faith hath made him whole.” (See Luke 17)

Whole. That word describes how I felt on that weekend finding my Savior for myself. I imagined myself as the lone grateful kneeling at the Lord’s feet thanking Him for his kindness and succor. Even as a young 13-year old boy, I glimpsed for the first time what kind of role the Savior could play in my life.

Now, as a 31-year old husband and father I recognize how important Jesus Christ is and has been in my life. My 20s were filled with joy, blessings, and challenges. Yet, through those challenges I came to a more mature understanding of how real the atonement of Jesus Christ is to me. Repentance, I learned, is not a one-time thing. Rather, it is an attitude of humility and appreciation to the Savior. When I married my sweetheart at age 27 and had my first child at age 28, the Lord took on a more prominent role in my life as my support and anchor.

If I were to sum up my feeling about Jesus Christ it is this: I love Him. Thanks to His sacrifice and resulting comprehension of what I deal with every day, I have the faith to continue following Him. Thanks to His example, I know how to treat my wife, my children, and others. It is because of Jesus that I can forgive myself.

It is my prayer that I serve Him by offering a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.”