Power, love, and a sound mind

When I went to EFY when I was sixteen it was just after President Hinckley had shared with us the "6 B's". We were each assigned to do a devotional during the week using his quote about one of the "Be"s and find a scripture that went with it. I was given the following quote:

"You who are members of this Church must have a loyalty to it. This is your church. You have as great a responsibility in your sphere of action as I have in my sphere of action. It belongs to you just as it belongs to me. You have embraced its gospel. You have taken upon yourselves a covenant in the waters of baptism. This you have renewed each time you have partaken of the sacrament. These covenants will be added to when you are married in the temple. You cannot hold them lightly. They are too great a thing. This is the very work of God designed to bring about the immortality and eternal life of His sons and daughters."

When I looked for a scripture on being true, none of them really reflected the meaning that President Hinckley had intended. But when I looked up the word testimony I found a scripture that has strengthened and influenced me more than any other words in my entire life.

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." 1 Timothy 1:7-8

Fear is not from God, it is a sign of wavering faith in Him. Be a partaker of affliction with strength and assurance that God will provide a way. He will make the weak things strong, the unfair things fair, and the sadness into joy again.