The principle of......

Every single day, the world revolves around this principle.  Billions of people throughout the globe go out and exercise this principle in far more instances than we can begin to count.  Businesses would fail, the economy would tumble, and nations would explode in further chaos if this principle were to be disregarded in any sort of degree.

I want to talk about the principle of faith.  First of all, what is faith?  And how are we to exercise our faith for our benefit?

The Apostle Paul wrote that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."

The Prophet Alma the Younger said that "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)."

Faith does not mean that you know something exactly (for example, I don't have faith that 1+1 will equal 2; I know it), but it is to act upon your hope of true principles.  For example...

1. I exercised faith when I woke up this morning and got out of bed in the hope that this day would be worth living.

2. I exercised faith when I got out the macaroni and cheese and bacon and cooked it for breakfast in the hope that to eat so would be more beneficial to my taste buds than if I had not.

3. I exercised faith when I started the car hoping that turning the key would bring about a desired result.

Faith is more than a belief: it is an action taken place when there is confidence in someone or something.  The first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is faith.  In order for us to even begin to follow Christ, we not only need to believe in Christ as our Savior, we need to believe Christ when He said "Follow thou me" (2 Nephi 31:10).

In the following video, pay attention to how this young father exercises his faith, and how that faith led him to act.

If he did not have faith that he would receive help, he would not have gone out to seek it, but would have waited for help to come to him.  Likewise, as we exercise faith for a better day, Christ will support us in all our efforts (see Mathew 11:28-30).  Good things will come if we put our faith in our Father in Heaven.

"Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him... (Alma 44:4)"