Seeking the Spirit through Daily Gospel
Habits
In the various callings I’ve had in my gospel experience I’ve sometimes
asked myself how it is possible for those who have had the blessings of the
gospel can lose their faith and testimony.
I suppose the prophet Lehi considered the same question when he lamented
the fate of his posterity when they would reject the Savior. “But behold, when the time cometh that they
shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the
hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men,
knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the
world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the
commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite
goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall
come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their
Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest
upon them” (2 Nephi 1: 10).
While there were many factors that led to the destruction of the
Nephite civilization, the root cause of the Nephites’ decline was their loss of
faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel. It
was for this very reason that the Book of Mormon writers specifically and
repeatedly warned of behaviors and attitudes that weaken faith in the
Lord. Additionally, they continually
taught us how to build and strengthen our own testimonies.
Like many bishops and branch presidents, I’ve spent a fair amount of
time sitting with members of the Church who are in spiritual danger. Some have strayed a little while others have
managed to pretty much disassociate themselves from the Church. When addressed early, course corrections are
easily made, but when caught in the quicksand of doubt, sin, and indifference
many are left alone to face the buffetings of Satan. So often they don’t recognize that they have
lost hope because they simply do not care.
Yet, Hope stands on firm ground reaching out a saving hand to pull them
to the safety of the gospel.
Not everyone who comes into the office of the bishop or branch
president has given up hope. Often there
are tears and sobs as mistakes are confessed and a path is laid out that will
help the repentant person return to full faith and fellowship in the Church and
that will open the door for the Holy Ghost to once again be a member’s constant
companion.
Dale, however, was a different case for me. My heart nearly broke when I saw his name
appearing on my interview list one evening.
He had recently received a temple recommend so I knew that he was not
visiting me for a worthiness interview.
He came from a home where the gospel was taught. He was a returned missionary and by all
accounts, happily married and sealed in the temple. Expecting the worst, I held my breath when he
walked into my office and sat down.
After we exchanged greetings and visited for a minute or two I
approached the purpose of his visit. He
could have knocked me over with a feather when he asked what more he could do
to improve his spirituality.
I’m sure that you can imagine that I was relieved by his question, yet
at the same time my mind raced to give him an answer to his question. He was already a full tithe payer, lived the
Word of Wisdom, attended all his church meetings, sustained his church leaders,
lived the law of chastity, and all the other things we ask in the temple
recommend interview. My mind went
through the mental checklist of things that we as members of the Church should
do.
I cannot tell you how many times I wished as a bishop that I had a
Worthiness and Spirituality Prescription Pad that had certain behaviors
pre-printed on it so all that I would have to do was to check the appropriate
box and sign my name to it. Such a list
would include what seminary students refer to as Standard Mormon Answers – fast, pray, read the scriptures, pay your
tithing, attend church, live the Word of Wisdom, render service, attend the
temple, and so forth. Dale was already
doing all these things. But, isn’t it
nice to know that these are the things that lead to exaltation in the Celestial
Kingdom.
Before we talk about the things we should
do to improve our spirituality, it is instructive to know the pitfalls that
keep us from achieving the full blessings of the gospel.
King Mosiah pointed to some of the attitudes and behaviors that
undermined the faith of his people and can do the same for us. “NOW it came to pass that there were many of
the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin,
being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not
believe the tradition of their fathers.
They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of
the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. And now because of their unbelief they could
not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened. And they would not be baptized; neither would
they join the church. And they were a
separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their
carnal and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God”
(Mosiah 26:1 - 4). What we see here is
that when people choose not to believe and act on the truths they are taught,
their hearts become hardened and therefore they cannot enjoy the blessings of
faith and testimony.
There are other attitudes and behaviors that we see among those who
choose to not believe. From the Book of
Mormon we learn that some who think they are learned and wise set aside the
teachings of the prophets (2 Nephi 9: 28).
Others simply choose to go contrary to the commandments in spite of what
they have been taught, thus they lose the Sprit (Mosiah 2: 36-37). Those who choose this path are given less and
less light and knowledge until they know nothing of the mysteries of God. Consequently, their hearts become hardened,
and in the words of Alma, “are taken captive of the devil” (Alma 12:
9-11). Alma describes other things that
people do that lead them away from the truth of the gospel. They fail to keep the commandments and to
pray. He also says that they fail to
“observe the performances of the church” (Alma 31: 8-11). I find it interesting that Alma identified a
difference between the truth of the gospel and the performances of the church
and how it is important that we adhere to both.
I have pondered upon those “performances of the church” and just how
important they are. Those performances
amount to much more than simply coming to church on Sunday and partaking of the
Sacrament, singing a few hymns, and nodding off during Sunday school. It means saying yes to callings and requests
to pray or substitute in a class. It
means getting your teacher-aged son to church 15 or 20 minutes early so he can
help prepare the Sacrament. It means yes
to Family Home Evening, personal scripture study, and personal prayers. It means yes to watching General Conference
and participating in stake conference instead of taking the day off. It means yes to attending and participating
in seminary. It means yes to preparing
for and accepting a mission call. It
means yes to sharing the gospel with others on both sides of the veil. It means yes to sustaining our general, area,
and local leaders of the Church, not just by the raising of the hand, but also by
saying, “Yes, I will,” then doing it.
Mormon in his commentary on Amalickiah’s conspiracy to be made king
notes how people will succumb to flattering words before they leave the church
(Alma 46: 7-8). We see this pattern
several times in the Book of Mormon when flattery is used to draw people away
from the gospel and the church. We see
frequent occasions in the Book of Mormon where pride leads to the fall of a
chosen people. We read specifically in
Helaman where prideful people withheld their food from the hungry and mocked
that which was sacred which led to murder, lying, stealing, plundering, and
rising up in great contentions (Helaman 4: 11-13). Such behavior is evidence of greed and
selfishness. As if to add a capstone to
his record, Mormon tells us that those who deny the faith simply do not read
the scriptures (Mormon 9: 7-8).
President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of the Church tells a
story that relates to the sort of holy habits and righteous routines we should
be engaged in.
“Just as truth is given to us line upon line and the light brightens
slowly as we obey, even so, as we disobey, our testimony of truth lessens
almost imperceptibly, little by little, and darkness descends so slowly that
the proud may easily deny that anything is changing.
“I have heard the boast of a man who walked away from the Church
slowly. At first he just stopped teaching his Sunday School class, then he
stayed away from Church, and then he forgot to pay tithing now and then.
… He could not sense the difference, but I could. The light in his eyes and
even the shine in his countenance was dimming. He could not tell, since one of
the effects of disobeying God seems to be the creation of just enough spiritual
anesthetic to block any sensation as the ties to God are being cut. Not only
did the testimony of the truth slowly erode, but even the memories of what it
was like to be in the light began to seem to him like a delusion” (“A Life
Founded in Light and Truth” [Brigham Young University devotional, Aug. 15,
2000], 3, speeches.byu.edu).
So, what can we do to gain spiritual strength and withstand challenges
to our faith and testimony? The Book of
Mormon contains gospel principles that can guide individuals who seek to have
stronger faith and a stronger testimony.
Nephi gave his people and us a guidepost to follow in maintaining strong
faith and testimonies. “And now behold,
I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not;
and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him,
and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul;
and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29). Simply stated, if we choose to believe in Jesus Christ and worship Him with all our
might, mind, and strength, then we will remain spiritually strong and not be
cast out.
In answering my question to you about what we
can do to gain spiritual strength and withstand the challenges that may assail
our faith, the Savior has already given us direction. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my
gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works
which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me
do even that shall ye do; Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for
ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi
27: 21-22, 27).
I would like to return for a moment to my
young friend Dale who asked me what more he could do to improve his spirituality.
Elder Lynn G.
Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy made the following
observation. “Many of us create to do
lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to
be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked
off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn
checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening
this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an
event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am” (“What Manner
of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?” Ensign or Liahona,
May 2011). So, if we want to improve our
spirituality we need to be Christlike in everything we do.
The Savior had prayed to the Father that we
would be one with them (John 17: 9-11, 20-23; 3 Nephi 19: 19-23, 28-29). Not only did He pray for us, but He also
taught us how we may be one with Him.
While in Bountiful, the Savior delivered a
sermon that was similar to his biblical Sermon on the Mount. We often refer to the principles he taught as
the beatitudes. You may be interested in
knowing that the word beatitude comes from the Latin meaning supreme happiness
and is a declaration of blessedness.
Thus, by being poor in spirit, meek, humble, merciful, and having a pure
heart, thirsting for justice, being a peacemaker, and standing steadfast in the
face of persecution we receive the blessings of heaven (3 Nephi 12 and 13).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles said, “Jesus achieved perfect unity with the Father by
submitting Himself, both flesh and spirit, to the will of the Father. His
ministry was always clearly focused because there was no debilitating or
distracting double-mindedness in Him. Referring to His Father, Jesus said, ‘I
do always those things that please him’ (John 8:29). …
“Surely we will not be one with God and
Christ until we make Their will and interest our greatest desire. Such
submissiveness is not reached in a day, but through the Holy Spirit, the Lord
will tutor us if we are willing until, in process of time, it may accurately be
said that He is in us as the Father is in Him” (“That They
May Be One in Us,”
Ensign, Nov. 2002, 72–73).
Indeed, there are things we can do on a daily
basis that will keep us close to the gospel and to the Church, but perhaps a
more important question to ask ourselves is what more can we be on a daily basis in order to be one
with the Savior and the Father. After we
have kept the commandments; after we have paid our tithing and attended our
church meetings and all those other Standard
Mormon Answers, might we not want to add to the prescription a list of
“be’s”? Might we not want to be honest,
true, chaste, benevolent, kind, peacemakers, meek, humble, forgiving, faithful,
and virtuous? Might we not want to be
witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places? Compared to keeping the commandments on a daily
basis, these are the tough things to be.
These are the life-long attributes that guarantee that the Spirit will
be with us always.
I suppose that in a way that it is a matter
of obedience for the right reasons, and in this case it truly is a matter of
attitude as the Lord “Looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16: 7). I have often spoken of levels of
obedience. When I speak of levels of
obedience I like to compare those levels to degrees of glory that we can attain
in the next life.
The first level of obedience is a telestial
level. At this stage we obey because we
are afraid of the punishment for doing otherwise. Its root is fear, which is contrary to what
the Savior wants.
The second level is a terrestrial level. Here we obey because we want the reward. Living in the Celestial Kingdom is appealing
to us and we put our whole heart and soul into working for this glory because
that is what we want. We seek the reward. While working for the reward is good
motivation, there is still something better.
The third level of obedience is the celestial
level. It is at this level of obedience
that we see a maturation of the human spirit take place. It is here that we obey simply because we
love the Savior and want to please Him.
But there is more, which brings me to the fourth and highest level of
obedience.
I refer to this highest level of obedience as
an exalted level of obedience. It is an
outgrowth of love for the Savior and is therefore celestial in nature. And while it is an outgrowth of love for the
Savior, there is more. This level of
obedience comes as a result of being one with the Savior and Heavenly
Father. This level is who we are. It comes to us naturally, not because we are
motivated by fear or by reward. By this
I mean to say that we obey because that is who we are. There is no need to think about doing the
right thing because doing the right thing is our true nature and disposition. As I said, it is who we are, and as others
look at you they cannot perceive you doing anything other than the right thing
because they trust your actions. They
know you will say yes to the Lord
because you are so closely linked to Him that they can nearly see His
countenance in your face.
Must we achieve this exalted level of
obedience to receive exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom? I don’t think so, but wouldn’t it be nice if all
of us obeyed because that is who we are?
What would our world be like?
What would our communities be like?
What would our families look like?
There would be no disposition to do wrong or harm. Our thoughts would always turn first to the
needs of others. In this we could
literally be one with the Father and the Son.
May we strive for this exalted level of
obedience is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Greene Branch, May 21, 2017
© Gregory B. Talley 2017
