Week 01 is scheduled for study Dec. 26-Jan. 1, 2023. This week is all about learning and doing. Are we asking questions? Do we listen for answers? Are we making changes in our life based on those answers?
Day 1
Day 2
I Am Responsible for My Own Learning – Part 1
I Am Responsible for My Own Learning – Part 2
Day 3
The purpose of the scriptures is to help you come unto Christ and become more deeply converted to His gospel. The Come, Follow Me curriculum can help you understand the scriptures and find in them the spiritual strength you and your family need.
I need to know the truth for myself
The title of today’s lesson brings up some questions in my mind. Why do I need to know the truth about anything? Doesn’t knowing or not knowing truth bring with it certain assumptions? What good is truth to me if someone else knows it but I don’t? Is there a way for anyone to learn the real truth about anything, especially when it comes to spiritual things?
Why do I need to know the truth about anything?
We may take it as self evident that we all need to know the truth, whatever that truth may be. But what about the bulk of the human race? Aren’t so many of us living our lives according to what we have been taught by others, never really knowing if what we have been taught is true? We assume that because someone we either love or respect/fear tells us that a fact is so, that it is. At least many times we don’t question what we have been taught. Most of humanity has been taught lies by those in power in their lives without ever questioning or rebelling against those statements.
But there is a basic craving within most of us to know the real truth about something when we think we can get it. For many of us it only takes someone challenging what we have been taught all our life to awaken doubts in our mind and heart. Suddenly, where there was no questioning there is now a desire to seek and verify the truth. We see this all the time when the missionaries sit down with a person and start to bear testimony of the Restoration. That which they had been raised to believe was fact suddenly gets called into question and the person begins to investigate the declarations of the missionaries. This is what leads to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about its truthfulness.
We have a new puppy in our home. Sometimes she will get hungry. In her hunger she begins to lash out by barking and biting. But as soon as we put her nose in her food bowl, and she eats something, she becomes the lovable, adorable animal we are accustomed to. People can do this too. They are hungry for the truth, but don’t know where to find it. This can cause frustration and the occasional lashing out at others. But when they are presented with the truth, their soul finds calm and rest, and they become for the time being a better version of themself.
Imagine a life without the truth that is eternal. We are eternal beings. We live and thrive on eternal truths. Such a state of being is native to us. But here in mortality truth is a rare commodity, for without truth people can be taught to believe almost anything. This is why the Lord spends so much time encouraging us to search the scriptures, to pray, and to keep the commandments. Between these three sources for truth, almost anything is possible in our life.
Doesn’t knowing or not knowing truth bring with it certain assumptions?
I am not saying this is gospel here, but I would like you to consider a point of view that just occurred to me a few moments ago as I was reading the scriptures listed in today’s lesson. In many ways, isn’t faith an assumption of truth? What gives us the courage to do things that requires faith to move forward if it isn’t the assumption that what we have chosen to believe will produce the desired outcome? We read the scriptures then pray sincerely to know of their truth, because we assume the promise to receive an answer from God is true. At least we hope it is true, so we move forward as though it is, which moves simple believe into an assumption of truth.
I don’t know how far this point of view or perspective can be taken, but I thought I would share it with you. After all, don’t we live our lives based on assuming that what we have been taught is true? There is no guaranty that what we have been taught is true, but we base so many of our daily decisions on these things. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if what we based our life decisions on came from God? When we receive answers to our spiritual questions, we have a firm foundation for making other decisions in life. Assumptions really do matter, and the Lord wants us to seek Him out so we can know the truth of all things. What a great way to live our life!
What good is truth to me if someone else knows it but I don’t?
Saying that a truth you know, but I don’t can bless and help me in my life is tantamount to saying that the meal you eat will fill me up. Life just doesn’t work that way. If you know a truth and I don’t, my life is lessened by that lack of truth. You life may be enriched by knowing the truth, but meanwhile I am starving in my own sphere while you feast. This is why we are told to share our testimonies with others, to invite people to learn more of Christ. The Lord doesn’t appreciate this kind of selfishness, and having the gospel and all of its blessings in our life, but keeping it to ourselves is a sin in God’s eyes. If you know the term “dog in the manger” this applies here.
Is there a way for anyone to learn the real truth about anything, especially when it comes to spiritual things?
At the end of the Book of Mormon we are told how to learn of that book’s truthfulness. The principle of study, seeking, prayer, and living the commandments is sound, and it applies to all areas of the gospel of Christ. If we want to know the truth of anything, following the promise in Moroni 10 will lead us to that knowledge. The first time we take up the challenge to put faith and hope in Moroni’s promise, and receive an answer, we have the fuel we need to use that same promise for everything else we want to learn about in the gospel. Once we know that when we ask God, He will answer, the whole spiritual realm opens up to us. Every answer takes work and time to receive it, but the answer is available, so not knowing what we want to learn about is more often than not our own fault.
Day 4
The purpose of the scriptures is to help you come unto Christ and become more deeply converted to His gospel. The Come, Follow Me curriculum can help you understand the scriptures and find in them the spiritual strength you and your family need.
What should I do when I have questions?
One of the statements that got me writing these commentaries was something akin to this question: “I have read the manual for Sunday School, but I don’t know what to do with the information I read. How do I prepare a lesson with that material?” I was getting this same basic question from the young as well as the old. The first thing this lesson states is “As you seek spiritual knowledge, questions will come to your mind.” If questions don’t come into your mind then I suggest you ask yourself if you are really seeking. To seek is to ask questions, to try to understand, and to want to know how what you learn fits with what you already know.
We need to be looking for something when we read the scriptures. What we look for is up to us, but to read without seeking for something is a moot exercise, for the scriptures were written to both prompt and answer questions. Perhaps you aren’t yet in practice and don’t notice that questions have been popping into your mind as you read the scriptures. Many of these questions or “I wonder …” moments can be fleeting. If not acted upon quickly they tend to fade away and you forget them. This is why we are supposed to write down whatever pops into our mind while we read. These fleeting thoughts, though they be observations or questions are the Spirit feeding us information. Writing these things down shows the Lord that you appreciate and intend to use what He has sent you. So if you haven’t been aware of thoughts and questions coming into your mind, try to be mindful of your thoughts when we read the scriptures next time.
It is in the searching process that answers come. Rarely does the Lord invade our thinking and impose knowledge on us when we have no desire for that knowledge. That just isn’t how this works! He is waiting to see how much you want to know. Then He waits to see what you do with what He gives you. Will you incorporate that knowledge into your daily living or do you just shelve what you have and forget about it? It has been my experience that the faster I use what I have been given, the faster and more frequently I receive more.
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CFMNT01-2023 – We Are Responsible for Our Own Learning
Week 01
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