I have come to realize that our real problem is not so much fear of things or people or places but rather fear itself. I invite you to magnify your faith.
speeches.byu.edu/talks/patricia-t-holland_fear/
"I remember the fear I had coming here as a new student. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to pass my exams or even find the classrooms. I was afraid I wouldn’t get along with my new roommate. I worried that my money would not last, and I was certain that I would never get asked for a date. On occasion, I still awaken in the night in a cold sweat, having dreamed I had gone a whole semester without attending a class I’d registered for and that my transcript had incompletes and UWs stamped across the front of it. I have, in the course of my forty-plus years, managed to worry about almost everything.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that almost none of the things I have worried about or been afraid of have ever happened. I suppose that is why Elder Packer said recently, “You can’t tell me worrying doesn’t help because the things I worry about never happen.”
So I have come to realize, as perhaps you need to, that our real problem is not so much fear of things or people or places but rather fear itself. I’ve learned, as many of you have, that such anxiety is one of Satan’s greatest tools, and it needs to be opposed.
In a motherly sort of way, I plead with each one of you to understand that your opportunity to learn can greatly magnify your faith-faith in yourself, faith in your future, faith in a God who is your father and who loves you. Please understand this right now-God is not a vengeful, punitive god who is somehow looking for new ways to torment, embarrass, and punish you. For too much of my young life that is the way I saw him, and I often obeyed him out of guilt and anxiety rather than faith and genuine desire. But you-you are here at the university that teaches of a living God, of which Elder George Q. Morris, a former member of the Council of the Twelve, once said, “It is called the Brigham Young University, but it is the University of the Kingdom of God.” Please understand, you have come to a place designed by God, governed by apostles, and presided over by a prophet to help you discover your divine potential. I promise you that if you will treat it seriously and sacredly, faith will begin to replace fear, and you will stand confident before God and man." - Patricia Holland
Follow BYU Speeches
Facebook: byuspeeches
Twitter: byuspeeches
Instagram: byuspeeches
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/byuspeeches
© Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.
20 апр 2017
