Why do we bear our testimony? We do so to testify to the truthfulness of the Godhead, our relationship with Them, and the truthfulness of the gospel. Doing so is our personal witness—borne to our souls by the Holy Spirit—of which facts of eternal significance are true. It is the way we stand as a witness to proclaim that we know those things be so.A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health history, or an expression of love for our family members and other loved ones. Nor is it a sermon. At one time or another, we have all been guilty of using the time for the bearing of testimony in these ways. But President Spencer W. Kimball taught that the moment we begin preaching to others, our testimony has ended.
We gain our testimony the same way we learn the gospel: line upon line. As our faith and understanding grow, so does our testimony. As our testimony grows, so does our knowledge. As our knowledge grows, so do we.
As we hear others bear their testimonies or as we consider bearing our own testimonies, questions may arise that may make us or others ponder. For example, a young woman preparing for a mission wonders if her testimony will be strong enough to support her in serving a mission. During a testimony meeting a visitor hears a member say, “I know that the Father and the Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith”; the visitor wonders, “What does that mean when he says he knows that?” A young person hears the testimony of a parent or some other admired adult figure and is inspired to work to develop his or her own conviction.
How does such a testimony help a person who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? How does it help someone who is not a member? It either opens the door to the truthfulness of the gospel, builds on the foundation of what we already know, or edifies our own testimony.
Learning and knowing the truth of the gospel is the foundation of our personal testimonies. We each have a direct relationship with our Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, which bears powerful witness to us. We become more diligent in the gospel by bearing our testimony about the things we know to be true by the witness of the Holy Spirit. The bearing of our testimony need not be lengthy or eloquent, nor do we need to wait for the first Sunday of the month to declare our witness of things that are true. We can and should bear a pure testimony of the divinity and reality of the Father, the Son, the great plan of happiness, and of the Restoration whenever we have the opportunity.
May we always keep the reason for bearing our testimony in our hearts and minds, and may we remember the right way to bear that testimony, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
—The Genesis Presidency