The Gospel Of Basketball

I think of all the lessons we learn here on earth, perhaps one of the greatest is how to better ourselves. The purpose of he gospel of Jesus Christ is to cleanse, or get rid of sin, thus transforming one into a new being. Long ago on top of a mountain, Jesus stated it best as he taught the people how to be. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect." Now, I don't know about you, but that seems like a daunting task. How can it be accomplished? Jesus made it possible through dying for us, wiping away our sins. We are saved by his mercy. When he suffered for our actions he stood in our place in the garden, thus allowing mercy to overcome justice. We are saved and perfected by his mercy, on the condition that we repent, live his gospel. Its starts with faith. FAITH IS a belief in something we cannot see, but know is true.(Heb11:1; Alma 32:21) Just like any good ball player knows in order to make a shot you have to take a shot. You cannot see the ball going into the hoop, but you trust that it will. By making a basket our faith increases. Such is the case in the gospel. When we act on our faith, we trust in his promises, trust him and what he says. Initially we cannot see him, or the blessings, but we learn the truth of a commandment as we live them, by experience.(John 7:17) We have to take a shot to make a shot, just like we have to exercise faith to see results. This leads us to repentance. REPENTANCE MEANS to stop doing those things that are wrong, and start doing those things that are right. After we have made some shots, we may think we don't need a coach or teammate, we don't need to practice, we don't need to continue improving. We need to continually repent to help us stay on the right path. To repent, recognize the sin, confess to God in prayer, make up for wrongs, stop doing it, and finally drop it. This leads us to baptism. TO BE BAPTIZED MEANS being immersed, or fully under water, for the remission of sins, to enter the Lords Church. All good players must be fully dedicated to the game. All men must be baptized, for it is a commandment from God.(John 3:5, 3 Nephi 11) When we are baptized we promise to take his name upon us, always remember him, to keep his commandments. He promises to give the holy ghost as a constant guide, the remission of sins, and being born again. We wear his name on our jerseys, always remember what team we are on, listen to the coach to achieve the victory. When these steps are exercised, a player has the ability to catch fire. The ability to preform far beyond the normal. THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST IS the right, whenever one is worthy, to have the holy ghost as a constant companion. He completes the baptism. Only in this way, with baptism and the gift of the holy ghost, can one receive remission of sins, be born again. This can happen only under the the proper priesthood, given from God to man to at in his name. The Holy Ghost makes us clean. Its much like a coach, he helps us do what is right, comforts us, warns of danger, teaches and helps us learn. Now all these things would be good for nothing if we gave up in the 4th quarter. We must endure to the end. TO ENDURE TO THE END means to be obedient to Gods commandments despite opposition, temptation, trials until the end of our lives. We must not just be on the team, we must be true to it until the end of our days. This is the way Jesus taught I testify. I know that by consistently applying these principals, our nature can be changed and we can become more like him. I got the idea for this blog from a good friend.