Saturday, November 17, 2018

Principles for Meaningful Gospel Study

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(Sacrament Meeting Talk)

In this most recent General Conference a new home-centered, church supported curriculum was announced to begin in 2019. As part of this new curriculum, church will be shortened to 2 hours to give us more time to study the gospel at home.

Changes to Family Home Evening were also announced: “Members are encouraged to hold, home evening and to study the gospel at home on Sunday—or at other times as individuals and families choose. A family activity night could be held on Monday or at other times. To this end, leaders should continue to keep Monday evenings free from Church meetings and activities.”[1]

Accompanying these changes is the invitation to improve our personal and family gospel study. As you consider this invitation from a living prophet of God, I invite you to remember why God calls prophets and how blessed we are to have their counsel.

Jesus Christ gives apostles and prophets “For the perfecting of the saints, … for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. … That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the… cunning craftiness [of men], whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”[2]

Jesus said, “What I the Lord have spoken… whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”[3]

He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.”[4]

He said, “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.”[5]

The prophet Nephi testified: “Whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.”[6]

We hear the voice of Christ in our day in the words of His ancient and modern prophets and apostles as recorded in the scriptures and in General Conference. Through their words we learn how to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and access the blessings of His Atonement.

As you act on the prophetic invitation to improve your personal and family gospel study you will receive more of the promised blessings that come from following the words of Christ. You will also receive blessings unique to following the counsel of God’s living prophet.

You and your family will be strengthened. You will have more of the love and peace of God in your life. You will receive more of the guidance and strength needed to stay on the path and overcome temptation. You will come to know Christ better and become more like Him.

To support us in improving our personal and family gospel study, the Church has provided a new resource: Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. Your Bishopric is working to deliver a copy of this manual to every household.

Next year we will focus on studying the life of Christ and His teachings to the early church as found the New Testament. Each section in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families includes ideas to enhance personal and family gospel study for the chapters in the New Testament being studied that week.

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families contains many principles to make your personal and family gospel study more meaningful. I would like to share three of these with you today.

Principle # 1: Gospel study becomes more meaningful when we focus on inviting the Holy Ghost

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to focus on inviting the Holy Ghost when we study the gospel. This is different from studying the gospel just to learn something new. While learning new information can help to invite the Holy Ghost, by focusing solely on learning new factoids we can miss opportunities to invite the Holy Ghost through pondering and applying something we’ve already heard before.

Elder Holland recounted “A story President Packer told the Quorum of the Twelve some years ago. He talked about a severe winter in Utah when the snow was excessive and … the deer herds … [were driven] out of their natural habitat, and well-meaning … [people] tried to respond by feeding those deer to get them through the crisis of the winter. They brought in hay and dumped it everywhere. …

“Later an immense number of those deer were found dead. The people who handled those animals afterward said that their stomachs were full of hay, but they had starved to death. They had been fed, but they had not been nourished.”[7]

To be truly nourished, revitalized, and changed by our gospel study we must seek to invite the Holy Ghost. The blessings of the Atonement of Christ are commonly delivered by the Holy Ghost: blessings of healing, cleansing, strength, empowerment, comfort, joy, peace, hope, guidance, character growth, and so forth.

Having the Spirit with us means that God accepts us and that we are successfully traveling on the path that leads to living with Him and exaltation. Thus getting and keeping the Holy Ghost in our lives is essential.

Gospel study can be one of the ways we invite the Holy Ghost to be with us. To invite the Holy Ghost as we study the gospel we focus on:
·         Jesus Christ and His Atonement
·         Growing and exercising our faith
·         Becoming more like Christ through repentance and making and keeping covenants
·         Pondering how to apply what we are studying and acting on promptings received from the Spirit.

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families focuses on these things. Using this resource will help us focus on inviting the Holy Ghost which will help us have more meaningful gospel study.

Principle # 2: Gospel study becomes more meaningful when we ask inspired questions

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to ask inspired questions as we study the gospel. Elder Bendar of the quorum of the twelve apostles has taught that “inspired questions lead to inspired answers.”[8]

Asking inspired questions invites the Holy Ghost to help us to think more deeply and personally about the gospel, to identify how we can apply the gospel, to motivate us to act, to strengthen our testimonies, to focus on what matters most, and to recognize and be more grateful for the blessings we have received.

Unfortunately, not all questions are inspired questions. Uninspired questions do not lead to inspired answers from the Holy Ghost.

So what how can we tell the difference between an inspired and uninspired question? The key is in the attributes the question reflects. Inspired questions reflect positive attributes that build, such as faith, humility, love, gratitude, and testimony. On the other hand, uninspired questions reflect negative attributes that do not build, such as pride, negativity, distrust, and doubt.

The Lord has said, “That which doth not edify [or build up[9]] is not of God.”[10]

If I ask a question like, “Does my wife not love me anymore?”, I can tell that it is an uninspired question because it reflects negativity and does not build. Inherit in the question is a focusing bias that would lead me to give more weight to negative answers, while discounting contrary positive experiences.

When facing an uninspired question, we would do well to change it into an inspired question so we can be taught by the Holy Ghost instead of some other less inspired, less knowledgeable, less trustworthy source.

We can pray for the Lord’s help to change an uninspired question into an inspired one. We can humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him what question He would have us ask. The Holy Ghost will then bring to our minds the inspired question we should be pondering and lead us to inspired answers.

Going back to the uninspired question, “Does my wife not love me anymore?”, I should seek the Lord’s help to change it into an inspired question like “How can I strengthen my marriage?” or “How can I show my wife that I love her?” These questions reflect love and a commitment to build. Asking inspired questions like these lead to opportunities to receive inspired answer through the Holy Ghost.

While it can take some effort to craft an inspired question, fortunately Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families is filled with them. Let me share one example accompanying the story of Joseph being directed by the Lord to protect Jesus and his family by taking them into Egypt:

“Parents can receive revelation to protect their families. … Ponder experiences when you have felt God’s guidance in protecting you and your family or loved ones. Consider sharing these experiences with others. What can you do to receive such guidance in the future?”[11]

Pondering this inspired question resulted in a meaningful, revelatory experience for me. I know that as we ask the inspired questions found in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families, we will be led to inspired answers and our gospel study will become more meaningful. 

Principle # 3: Gospel study becomes more meaningful when we share our experiences

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families invites us to share our gospel study experiences with others. We can share meaningful scriptures, inspired questions, inspired answers, promptings we receive, how we acted on what we studied, blessings we have received, our testimony, and so forth.

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families contains prompts for sharing our gospel study experiences in family settings. Our families will grow closer together and become stronger as we share experiences with each other.

Our circumstance may be such that we do not have a family that we can share our gospel study experiences with. Even in those situations, we still have many opportunities to share our gospel study experiences and enrich not only our own gospel study, but to also bless the lives of others.

Sunday School teachers are being instructed to invite us to share our gospel study experiences each week in Sunday School. We can take advantage of this opportunity to share.

We could consider forming a study group that meets regularly to study the gospel outside of church. We could invite others to study with us, especially those who do not have a family that they can share their gospel study experiences with.


A few years ago I felt limited in my ability to share my gospel experiences with others. So I fasted and prayed to know how I could better share the gospel in my circumstance. A simple prompting came: start a blog and use it to share the gospel.

I acted on this prompting and shared blog posts on social media. I was humbled as this prompting led to many meaningful discussions that not only strengthened the faith of others, but added a wonderful dimension to my gospel study.

So I would invite you to pray and seek your own revelation for how you can share your gospel study experiences with others. I know the Lord will guide you to know what to do. I know that sharing your gospel study experiences with others will bless their lives and add meaning to your gospel study.

Conclusion
I invite you to take the prophets challenge to make your personal and family gospel study more meaningful. Your gospel study will become more meaningful as you use Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families and focus on inviting the Holy Ghost, asking inspired questions, and sharing your gospel study experiences with others.

President Nelson, our living prophet, promised: “The new home-centered, Church-supported... curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family … transform[s] their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining.”[12]

I bear my testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel that was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. The work of salvation undertaken by this Church is the work of Jesus Christ and is done with His authority and guidance.

“I cannot comprehend [my Savior’s] power, His majesty, His perfections. But I do understand something of His love, His compassion, His mercy.

"There is no burden He cannot lift.  There is no heart He cannot purify and fill with joy. There is no life He cannot cleanse and restore when one is obedient to His teachings.”[13]



[2] Ephesians 2:20, 4:12-14
[3] D&C 1:38
[4] John 10:27-28
[5] D&C 19:23
[6] 1 Nephi 15:24
[7] Jeffrey R. Holland, June 2007 Ensign
[8] David A. Bednar, Face to Face with Elder and Sister Bednar, https://www.lds.org/youth/article/face-to-face-with-elder-and-sister-bednar?lang=eng, accessed 11/16/2018
[10] D&C 50:23
[11] Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families
[12] Russell M. Nelson, October 2018 General Conference
[13] Richard G. Scott, October 1988 General Conference

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