Simply stated, testimony-real testimony, born of the Spirit and confirmed by the Holy Ghost-changes lives. It changes how you think and what you do. It changes what you say. It affects every priority you set and every choice you make.
Interpretation
True testimony fundamentally alters one's perspective and actions.
M. Russell Ballard emphasizes that genuine testimony, which stems from spiritual experience and is affirmed by the Holy Ghost, has a profound impact on an individual's life. It not only transforms thoughts and actions but also influences speech, priorities, and decision-making, illustrating the deep connection between spiritual conviction and personal choices.
In practice
During a motivational speech about faith and personal growth.
Attitude is an important part of the foundation upon which we build a productive life. A good attitude produces good results, a fair attitude poor results, a poor attitude poor results. We each shape our own life, and the shape of it is determined largely by our attitude.
There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what our Church teaches... We are living in a world saturated with all kinds of voices. Perhaps now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us.
Remember, you can be exalted without a college degree. You can be exalted without being slender and beautiful. You can be exalted without having a successful career. You can be exalted if you are not rich and famous. So focus the best that you can on those things in life that will lead you back to the presence of God - keeping all things in their proper balance.
There is a big difference between an honest mistake made in a moment of spiritual weakness and a willfull decision to disobey persistently the commandments of God. Those who deliberately choose to violate God's commandments or ignore the standards of the Church, even when promising themselves and others that someday they will be strong enough to repent, are stepping into a dangerously slippery slope upon which many have lost their spiritual footing.
Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.
Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt.
In the end, like the Almighty Himself, we make everything in our image, for want of a more reliable model; our artifacts tell more about ourselves than our confessions.
Even in fiction, I feel rigorous honesty applies. It doesn't apply to facts; it applies to what I think of as not telling emotional lies, which is a funny business.
In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who we are' operate on precisely the same principles that we do.
There are some people who need to wear a label round their necks to show that they are Christians at all, or else we might mistake them for sinners, their actions are so like those of the ungodly.
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