We Believe

An individual affirmation of belief can be empowering; a collective one can be even more impactful.

After King Benjamin taught the gospel to his people, “he sent among them, desiring to know … if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them” (Mosiah 5:1). They responded with a united declaration of faith:

Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us.

Mosiah 5:2

Their spiritual transformation was all the more powerful because they experienced it together.

The apostle Peter used similar language to affirm the faith of the apostles. After Jesus delivered a particularly challenging sermon, many of his former disciples “went back, and walked no more with him.” Turning to the twelve, Jesus asked, “Will ye also go away?” Peter replied:

Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

John 6:68-69

When a prominent journalist asked Joseph Smith in 1842 to write a summary of the history and faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph responded with a letter which recounted some of the events leading to the establishment of the Church, followed by a list of thirteen core beliefs. That list echoed a pattern already familiar to Church members, including the 1835 declaration now found in Doctrine and Covenants 134, which likewise presents numbered statements beginning with the words “We believe.”

As a child, memorizing the Articles of Faith, I didn’t fully grasp the implications of the word “we.” The choice to believe is an individual matter, and there is power in personal testimony, but when we coalesce around a common set of convictions, we create a united front which strengthens us all. Every time I read or recite one of the Articles of Faith, I am reaffirming that I belong, that I am part of this community of disciples of Jesus Christ, that I stand in unity with church members around the world.

Today, I will be grateful for collective testimony which binds me with fellow believers. I will be grateful for the privilege of declaring not only “I believe,” but “we believe.”