I Would That Ye Should Take Upon You the Name of Christ – Mosiah 5:7-8

7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
(Mosiah 5:7-8)

When King Benjamin asked his son Mosiah to gather the people, he said that one of his purposes was to “give unto them a name that never shall be blotted out” (Mosiah 1:11-12). After he taught the people about Jesus Christ, they spontaneously pleaded with God to “apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins” (Mosiah 4:2). As a result, they were filled with the Spirit of the Lord and received “a remission of their sins” (Mosiah 4:3). They subsequently entered a covenant with God “to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days” (Mosiah 5:5). In the passage above, Benjamin explained to them that, by making this covenant, they had become “the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you.”

Then, he urged them to take upon themselves the name of Christ. What did he mean? If they had become the children of Christ, if they had been “spiritually begotten” by Him, what more did they need to do to take upon themselves His name?

As President Henry B. Eyring pointed out, the sacramental prayer on the bread teaches us that taking upon ourselves the name of Christ is a process, not an event:

The statement that we are “willing to take upon [us]” His name tells us that while we first took the Savior’s name when we were baptized, taking His name is not finished at baptism. We must work continually to take His name throughout our lives, including when we renew covenants at the sacrament table and make covenants in the Lord’s holy temples.
So two crucial questions for each of us become “What must I be doing to take His name upon me?” and “How will I know when I am making progress?”
(“Try, Try, Try,” General Conference, October 2018)

President Eyring suggested several ways that we can take the Savior’s name upon ourselves; by speaking for Him, by serving Him, and by cultivating the Christlike feelings of faith, hope, and charity in our hearts.

Today, I will remember that, even though I have made sacred covenants with God, the process of taking upon myself the name of Christ is ongoing. I will strive to continue that process by speaking on His behalf, by serving Him, and by continuing to develop Christlike attributes.