Strengthening Our Foundation in Christ

As times become more tumultuous, strengthening our personal foundation of faith in Christ is more important than ever.

Sometimes we may feel that we are walking on unstable ground—literally and figuratively. As our world and our lives are thrown upside down by a pandemic, unemployment, natural disasters, and other personal trials, stability is a much-needed commodity that may seem hard to come by. While many things are outside of our control, we can control one crucial aspect of our lives: the foundation of our testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must actively fortify this foundation against coming trials. 

In his April 2020 general conference address “A Good Foundation Against the Time to Come,” Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encourages us to evaluate our current gospel foundation and to make any necessary renovations. Elder Stevenson describes the ongoing four-year renovation of the Salt Lake Temple, which includes strengthening its foundation against earthquakes. He suggests that “an introspective look may reveal that we too and our families could benefit from our doing some needed maintenance and renovation work, even a seismic upgrade! We might start such a process by asking: ‘What does my foundation look like?’”

This year alone has seen many trials across the world, and the future is certain to hold more trying circumstances. The best way to prepare ourselves for these unpredictable events is to use our time now to take a good look at the foundation of our testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Renovations may include reading the scriptures more often, saying more sincere prayers, or finding more ways to serve others on a daily basis. Engineers hope to help the Salt Lake Temple “endure through the millennium.” As we make the necessary changes to have a firm spiritual foundation, we too can endure even the hardest of times until we see our Savior again. 

Read more about how we can strengthen our personal foundation in Elder Gary E. Stevenson’s talk “A Good Foundation Against the Time to Come.” 

Source: General Conference

—Catherine Niesporek, Latter-day Saint Insights

FEATURE IMAGE BY ANAND DANDEKAR

Find more insights 

Read “A Firm Foundation That Will Not Crack,” a Latter-day Saint Insights article by Christina Cosland, to learn more about how to build a firm foundation.

Take a look at the Church Newsroom article “Plans Unveiled for Salt Lake Temple Renovation” for details about plans to strengthen the foundation of the Salt Lake Temple.