Covenant Confidence through Jesus Christ

Elder Ulisses Soares’ messages are always filled with doctrine. I have learned that his messages are ones that I need to read and re-read because there is so much depth in them. There were two paragraphs in particular in his most recent message that are bursting with promise and truth.

Elder Soares spoke of covenants and the temple. Two themes that were both so prevalent in this last conference. And he taught of a new term, “covenant confidence” which he described as “the quiet yet certain assurance of receiving the blessings that God promises for those who keep their covenants.”

We speak a lot about the “covenant path” in our faith. But I loved how Elder Soares spoke of it. He shared that when we enter the temple, we begin a “sacred journey…to become higher and holier disciples of Christ.” I love the idea of a journey – something that requires forward momentum.

Elder Soares revealed so many blessings that come from that journey. As we make covenants and commit to follow the Savior we:

Receive power to change our hearts
Renew our spirits
Deepen our relationship with the Savior
Receive sanctification to our souls
Form a sacred bond with God and Jesus Christ
Are promised that we can inherit eternal life
Obtain a holier and higher confidence for our day-to-day lives
Increase devotion to and gratitude for Jesus Christ and the Atonment
Fortify our ability to love and serve others
Strengthen our souls to live in an unholy world
Empower us to overcome the seeds of doubt and despair, fear and frustration, and heartache and hopelessness
Possess one of the most powerful forces that we can access in this life

It is an incredible list that is so much more than a list. Could there be any better promise we could be given? In fact, Elder Soares teaches that the best thing we could have and pass along to our posterity is confidence in our covenants.

My view of the temple and my covenants has been enhanced. When I was younger, I struggled a lot with my confidence. I suppose that is normal, but it is something that still tries to sneak into my life at times. Maybe that is part of mortality. But I can and should be confident in the covenants I have made. The blessings far outweigh anything I could offer – but He still desires my offering.

Lastly, Elder Soares spoke of our temple attendance. He said, “If we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple.” I want to bring that spirit that the temple brings into my life and home. Elder Soares promises that “having the spirit of the Lord’s house in us changes us, completely.” I want to let Him change me.

Promptings

Obtain a higher and holier confidence in the covenants I have made through Jesus Christ by centering my life on Him. He has to be my focus. I am on a journey of becoming and as I become more like Him – my confidence will grow.

Invitations

Gain “covenant confidence” through humility, centering my life on the Savior, living by the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, receiving the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, and honoring the covenants I make with God in His holy house.
Have my next appointment scheduled with the Lord in His holy house
Be prepared to understand exactly how to act as I make covenants with my Heavenly Father and experience the privileges, promises, responsibilities, and spiritual insights and awakenings in His house

Promise

Having the spirit of the Lord’s house in me will change me, completely.

Highlights

“I pray that we may…rejoice in what I love to call “covenant confidence through Jesus Christ.” This confidence is the quiet yet certain assurance of receiving the blessings that God promises for those who keep their covenants and is so needed amid the challenging circumstances of our day.

Inscribed on the front of each temple is a solemn statement: “Holiness to the Lord.” These inspired words are a clear invitation that when we enter the Lord’s house, we embark on a sacred journey of learning to become higher and holier disciples of Christ. As we make covenants in holiness before God and commit to follow the Savior, we receive the power to change our hears, renew our spirits, and deepen our relationship with Him. Such an endeavor brings sanctification to our souls and forms a sacred bond with God and Jesus Christ, who promise that we can inherit the gift of eternal life. The result of this sacred journey is that we obtain a holier and higher confidence for our day-to-day lives within our covenants made through Jesus Christ.

Such confidence is the pinnacle of our divine connection with God and can help us increase our devotion t and gratitude for Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. It fortifies our ability to love and serve others, and it strengthens our souls to live in an unholy world that is increasingly dark and discouraging. It empowers us to overcome the seeds of doubt and despair, fear and frustration, heartache and hopelessness that the enemy tries to drive deep into our hearts, especially when life is hard, trials are long, or circumstances are difficult.

Dear brothers and sisters, those who gain genuine confidence in the covenants made in the house of the Lord through Jesus Christ possess one of the most powerful forces that we can access in this life.

My dear friends, if there is one thing we could possess – and one thing we could pass on to our children and grandchildren that would help each in the tests and trials ahead – it would be confidence in the covenants made through Jesus Christ.

How do we gain such confidence through Jesus Christ? It comes through humility, centering our lives on the Savior, living by the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, receiving the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, and honoring the covenants we make with God in HIs holy house.

If we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple.

Being temple bound secures us to the Savior, giving us proper direction and stability while ensuring we have covenant confidence through Jesus Christ. Therefore, all of us should intentionally enhance such binding by having our next appointment scheduled with the Lord in His holy house, whether the temple is near or far away.

The Savior desires that we become prepared to understand, with great clarity, exactly how to act as we make covenants with our Heavenly Father in His name. He wants us to be prepared to experience our privileges, promises, and responsibilities; to be prepared to have the spiritual insights and awakenings that we need in this life. I know that when the Lord sees even a spark of desire or a flicker of righteous effort in our willingness to center our lives on Him and on the ordinances and covenants we make in HIs house, He will bless us, in His perfect way, with the miracles and tender mercies we need.

The house of the Lord is where we can be transformed in higher and holier ways. So, when we walk out of the temple, transformed by our hope in the promises of the covenants, armed with power from on high, we take the temple with us into our homes and lives. I assure you that having the spirit of the Lord’s house in us changes us, completely.

As we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple. May this transformation fill us with confidence in our holy covenants made with God through Jesus Christ. God lives, Jesus is our Savior, and this is His restored Church on earth.”

FULL text and video of Elder Ulisses Soares’ message can be found HERE.

Other messages from the April 2024 General Conference that I found particularly impactful: