FAITH: Hearts are what count

Mormon? Catholic? Christian?

It doesn’t matter what we choose to call ourselves. We still all carry the weight of stigmas that come with our religious affiliation.

As I read opinion after opinion, articles, blogs, billboards, I can’t help but think: What does it matter? When push comes to shove, it comes down to the status of our hearts. Do we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or not?

We can call ourselves what makes us feel most comfortable. Let’s go to whichever church we feel the most accepted and loved — if we choose to attend church at all. However, let’s not continue the fight on differing religious theologies.

What God cares about is our heart. This concept is colored throughout the Bible.

Yes, I do believe the Bible to be our ultimate source of Truth. So does it bother me when I see the Book of Mormon sitting on a friend’s table? Does it bother me to find a loved one headed to confession? Sure it does! Because my personal opinion, and the opinion that I have found in my Bible, is that those things, among others (some in my own religion) are not required.

Unlike me, however, God is looking past the books we read or the church services we attend — or stay away from.

He is looking at the condition of our hearts.

Are we accepting His will in our lives? Do we have personal conversations with Him? Are we daily learning to pick up our cross and follow Him?

I call myself a Christian and I love the freedoms that come along with my religious choice. But to each his own. Mormon, Catholic or whatever group you want to be affiliated with, if any. God doesn’t care as much about the title, the theology or our place of worship as He does the condition of our hearts.

JESSICA BILES

Hayden