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A
willingness to lay one’s all on the altar of
God is essential to follow Jesus Christ with “full purpose of heart,”
said Brent L. Top, a religion faculty member at BYU in Provo,
Utah.
During
his devotional address Tuesday at BYU-Idaho, he said, “Taking up the
cross came to mean the sacrifice of everything, including one’s life
if necessary, as well as being willing to endure persecution, humiliation
and the mockery of the world for one’s convictions.”
He
said true discipleship “requires a devotion and allegiance to the
Lord that allows nothing – not property or prestige, family or
friends – to be more important to us than the Savior and his cause.”
Top
related an experience he had when a student asked him if he would be
willing to die for the Savior. He reflected often on that question and came
to the understanding that he had covenanted to give his all to the Lord.
But
as he struggled with the issue, one thought seemed to settle upon his mind
and heart.
“It
is as if I can hear the voice of the Savior saying, ‘I don’t
need you to die for me. I need you to live for me.’ It seems simple,
but it is deeply profound. Living for the Lord is in many ways far more
demanding and a greater test of faith than dying for the Lord,” he
said.
“Rather
than a sacrifice of life and limb,” he continued, “[taking up
the cross] is often symbolic of self-sacrifice – a sacrifice of
sinfulness and selfishness – a sacrifice of the natural man and all
ways and things of the world that prevent consecrated discipleship.”
He
emphasized that taking up the cross is not an act or event, but a process
that “requires continual effort and obedience, daily devotion and
diligence, and recurring repentance and recommitment when we fall short.”
Top
said the first step in taking up the cross of Christ was gaining a
conviction – a witness from the Holy Ghost of the truth. This conviction
can then lead to conversion.
“Becoming
and remaining a true disciple of the Master requires both spiritual
knowledge of his divinity and obedience to his gospel,” he said. “Testimony
has no saving power if it doesn’t lead to greater righteousness, deeper
devotion to God and increased service to our fellowmen.”
In
addition to knowing and doing, Top said the capstone characteristic of
taking up the cross is becoming consecrated.
“It
is not just what we know and how we behave,” he said, “but what
we have become – what we really are through and through.”
Top
continued, “It is not enough to just go through the Church, we must
have the Church – its ordinances, practices, teachings – go
through us and become a very real part of us. We must live the gospel, but
also make it our life.”
He
said the requirements to become convinced and converted can mostly be done
from a personal level of diligence, but becoming totally consecrated
requires charity – the pure love of Christ.
“When
we are transformed by his love, it becomes easy to live his commandments.
It becomes easy to love and serve one another – not because of what
we do, but because of what he has made of us,” he said.
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