When I think about the “doctrine of Christ,” I usually picture it as a straight line:
First, have faith in Jesus.
Then repent.
Then be baptized.
Then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And finally, endure to the end!
“For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Nephi 31:17)
While my brain loves linear thinking and easy checklists, I’ve been wondering lately…
What if these five steps are actually one giant interconnected circle?
I mean, I still need to exercise FAITH in Jesus Christ every day, and I certainly have room to grow.
I have a lot of REPENTING to do, and I know I will continue to need to change every single day.
Although we aren’t BAPTIZED over and over, we do partake of the sacrament each week, where we get to renew those covenants repeatedly.
I’m always working on improving how I keep the SPIRIT with me and recognize promptings, because it actually takes a lot of effort.
And I’m constantly working on joyfully ENDURING!
Even though all these steps are interconnected and repetitive, I’m still working on improving the quality each time I need faith, repent, renew my covenants, and draw closer to the Spirit.
I get a little better each time, I hope.
“Living the doctrine of Christ can produce the most powerful virtuous cycle, creating spiritual momentum in our lives.” – Russell M. Nelson
The doctrine of Christ reinforces itself with each step beautifully.
And it is the best way to help us become even more Christlike!
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
Cali thank you for all the time & thought you put in to helping all of us use our study time better!!!
I so appreciate all of your daily Come Follow Me applications and stories! Today was great when you said you used to referred to the gospel of Jesus Christ as a straight line from Faith to baptism by fire, then endurance to the end. But, now you said maybe we should think of it, more like a circle, forever doing the same things over and over; faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by water, then by fire(the Holy Ghost, then endure to the end. Thank you, Cali and Kristin! 🙂
I love this so much! I used to get frustrated with myself when I was repenting of the same thing week after week. But I realized I was slowly changing for the better. And then when you think about this cycle as a spiral moving us in an upward progression, we can see how living the doctrine of Christ brings us closer to Him and helps us become more like Him. We may feel like we keep coming back to the same spot on the circle but we’re actually moving to a higher and holier plane as we continue in covenant relationship with Christ. His course is one eternal round. It’s amazing to me!
I love that idea of a spiral progression! Thanks for sharing!