I started listening to Elder Bednar’s book, The Spirit of Revelation, again. It’s spectacular! There is so much value and depth in its teachings. He talks about how sometimes people can’t quite tell if what they are feeling or thinking is coming from the Spirit or their own thoughts, which I can 100% relate to, I’ve felt that way many times. But one thing he identifies is how the heart and the mind need to be united. If you think one thing, but feel another – then it’s not right. OR if you feel one thing, but think another – then again, it’s not right. When it is the Spirit, all of it, the heart and the mind will align. The Spirit testifies of truth through peace. Peace cannot exist when the heart and the mind are in dissonance. So aligning the heart and the mind is the Spirit bringing peace to you and letting you know what is thought and felt is of the Spirit and not just your own intelligence. Let’s pull an example out of the Book of Mormon.
When Nephi went back to get the plates from Laban, he encountered a drunk Laban passed out and alone. Immediately, the Spirit prompted Nephi to kill him. But Nephi, knowing right from wrong, struggled in his heart, “Never at any time have I shed the blood of man.” The Spirit helped to resolve Nephi’s struggle through reasoning in the mind:
“Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands.”
“…he had sought to take away mine own life.”
“…he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord.”
“Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes.”
“It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.”
Nephi and the Spirit continue to reason this out until they reach the conclusion that Nephi’s people traveling to the promised land would not be able to keep the commandments if they don’t have them, and they are engraven upon the plates. For this purpose, the Lord has delivered Laban into Nephi’s hands, so he must kill him.
It’s an entire process of reasoning. Interesting, though, that as I was writing all of this out, in my mind it sounded like justifying. So … this brings me to question … what role does what we think of as justification actually play in receiving revelation from the Spirit? We just witnessed that the Lord helped to reason things out in Nephi’s mind so that what he thought and felt were united and brought peace to his decision. Again, peace is how the Spirit tells you it is right. So when we are reasoning things out in our minds, how do we know we aren’t just justifying things? Again, I bet it is the resolve of peace both in what we feel and in what we think. Interesting. This makes me ponder many past experiences I have had where I have doubted what I thought was the Spirit inspiring me to do things that didn’t seem exactly right. I remember the peace from them in the moment and the reasoning/justification process in my mind. Interesting that I can be reassured that they were from the Spirit.
Life is full of so many things for us to learn, and not just learn them once, but learn them over and over again, compounded with depth each time we do. We are never done learning. I love the Lord’s model of growth! All of it testifies of His love for us. I love Him.
Another thing Elder Bednar mentions is the ability to get outside of ourselves and get out of our own way. When I am able to push all of the mess of life aside and get out of my own way and simply let my focus rest on the Savior and His work and will for me, life just gels. Peace comes in the mind and in the heart, and even though I can’t see all of the “hows” to the path – so many details I don’t know, I just know that seeking peace is the right place for me.
Forever grateful for the peace the Savior offers me!
