That All May Be Edified
As we focus on Jesus Christ, teach His doctrine, and learn diligently, we invite the Holy Ghost to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ and help us become more like Him.
A story is told of a young university student who struggled with a challenging class, so he hired a tutor to help him. Near the end of the course, the professor announced that students could bring to the final exam one piece of paper on which they could place anything they wanted. Some students prepared by making tiny notes with information from lectures and textbooks, readable only by using a magnifying glass. But the young man arrived at the final exam with a blank sheet of paper and a stranger. When the professor questioned him, the young man replied, “You said I could bring one piece of paper with anything on it.” He then placed the paper on the floor next to his desk and said, “I’d like my tutor to stand on my piece of paper.”
The Holy Ghost
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, blessed with the companionship of a member of the Godhead, we can have the help of the perfect Tutor. The Holy Ghost knows all things, testifies of truth, and will “bring all things to [our] remembrance.” President Russell M. Nelson frequently spoke about the importance of hearing the voice of the Lord. He taught us how to invite the guidance of the Holy Ghost and repeatedly pleaded with us to increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation.
Today I invite you to consider the role of the Holy Ghost, specifically related to gospel learning and teaching in the home and at church. The Holy Ghost is given by the prayer of faith and as we strive to live worthy of this precious gift. The inspired Church manual Teaching in the Savior’s Way outlines additional principles the Lord has established that will help invite the influence of the Holy Ghost.
Invite Diligent Learning
One of these principles is to invite diligent learning. In the past, we may have thought of teaching as a chance for a parent or teacher to invite the Spirit into their own preparation and then share what they have learned with children or class members, whose role it has been to listen. But even more effective is when we, as learners, also come prepared and when teachers create learning experiences that foster personal revelation directly to our hearts and minds. Then, as we’re given opportunities to share what we are learning through our study and from the Holy Ghost, we help each other to be instructed and edified. As we apply gospel principles, the Spirit again bears witness of their truthfulness.
As in all things, Jesus Christ is the perfect example. He has invited each of us to be diligent learners and to take charge of our own testimonies. He invited His disciples to prepare to learn, to share what they were learning, and to act in faith. He prayed for them, saw their divine potential, listened to them, and helped them know they were loved and needed.
As teachers, we can focus more on the learner’s progress, on meeting their needs, and on helping them to develop spiritual habits of lifelong discipleship. As learners, when we exercise our agency in the learning process, we signal to the Holy Ghost our willingness to be taught by Him.
I’m grateful for a teacher who invited me to be a better learner. When I began college, I mistakenly thought of school as something to endure in order to be allowed to play sports. One day, after reading a paper I had written, my professor told me she thought I was a gifted analytical thinker. I didn’t even know what that meant. She said that with more focused effort, I could be a good student. That thought had never crossed my mind. Her interest, encouragement, and invitations changed the course of my education and greatly blessed my life.
Teach the Doctrine
Another principle relevant to inviting the Holy Ghost is to teach true doctrine. This means that our gospel study and instruction are rooted in the word of God and that we don’t sensationalize or speculate on what the Lord has not revealed. Instead, we focus on essential and eternal gospel principles, which allows the Spirit to testify of truth. Again, we follow the example of the Savior. He said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
True doctrine is found in the scriptures and teachings of modern prophets. The Lord’s exhortation to study the scriptures individually and as families and to attend church each week to study His gospel provides a remarkable framework to learn His doctrine and hear His voice. We search the scriptures to understand the narrative, the principles they teach, and the application of these truths in our lives. What a blessing it is to have the scriptures at our fingertips. Imagine Adam and Eve, Abinadi, or even the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, visiting our homes or classes to teach us. They can when we feast upon the word of God. With consistent effort, we can learn to understand and love the scriptures and trust that they have the answers to the questions of the soul.
There was a time before we were married when my wife, Kristi, was struggling to feel Heavenly Father’s love and to understand His plan for her. As she prayed for guidance, an impression came that she should attend institute, so she enrolled in a New Testament class. The way her institute teacher taught from the scriptures, even the way he held them, showed how much he loved the word of God. As she attended, the Holy Ghost whispered to her that there was something in the scriptures that she needed. Her teacher’s love for the scriptures and the promptings of the Holy Ghost gave her a desire to begin a serious study of the word of God—which became a lifelong journey of deep conversion and consecrated service.
Focus on Jesus Christ
Finally, as Teaching in the Savior’s Way suggests, our teaching and learning should always focus on Jesus Christ. We can speak more often and more reverently of Him and seek more opportunities to express testimony, gratitude, and love for Him. Whatever the setting, as we remember Him, we can have “his Spirit to be with [us].”
One way to place Jesus Christ at the center of our teaching is to emphasize that He is the perfect example, the embodiment and expression of all gospel principles. Even when He is not directly referred to in a scriptural account, we can still point to Him as the example of the principle being taught. We might simply ask, “Can you think of a time when Jesus Christ exemplified this principle?”
We can also focus on Him by learning of His titles, roles, and attributes, seeking not only to learn what He has done but also to better understand who He is. For example, when studying the principle of repentance, it’s important to understand how to repent. But it’s also essential to remember what Jesus Christ has done to make repentance possible and to understand what repentance teaches us about Him, about His true nature and characteristics. What does our opportunity to repent say about His love, patience, and mercy, His belief in our divine potential, His willingness to atone for our sins, and the joy He finds in forgiving? And understanding His titles—such as Lamb of God, Redeemer, and Physician—helps us see that repentance is His invitation to cleanse, change, and heal us. Focusing on what He has done for us and what it says about who He is can help us have “faith unto repentance.”
At times, we may not immediately see the attributes of the Savior outlined in a scriptural account. For example, when reading about Nephi building a boat, we might focus only on Nephi. But focusing on the Savior can help us see that this record was not preserved to teach us about the greatness of Nephi but to show us the greatness of God—that He gives us strength to keep His commandments and delivers us in times of need.
We can also focus on Jesus Christ’s central role in Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of happiness. It can change the course of our lives to see our circumstances through the lens of God’s eternal plan instead of seeing the plan through the lens of our temporal circumstances. The gospel is not a list of demands; it’s the good news that Jesus Christ overcame sin and death. It is by accessing His amazing grace through keeping our covenants with God that we can live joyfully now and prepare for life with our Father in Heaven in the eternities. As we learn to see Heavenly Father and the Savior in the scriptures, we will come to know Them better and we will see Their love and influence more frequently and more powerfully in our own lives.
I will always remember the Spirit I felt as a youth when our teacher taught about the final days of the Savior’s life. He helped us see the significance of the events in the upper room, Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the empty tomb. He shared his profound gratitude for the Savior and his consuming desire to follow Him. His teaching was an invitation for the Holy Ghost to testify of Jesus Christ. And the Spirit I felt in that class deepened my faith and increased my love and appreciation for the Savior. The influence of that teacher has stayed with me my entire life. As was said of another teacher, “We could warm our hands by the fire of his faith.”
Conclusion
In our homes and Church meetings, as we focus on Jesus Christ, teach His doctrine, and learn diligently, we invite the Holy Ghost to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ and help us become more like Him, which is the aim of all gospel teaching and learning.
I’m grateful for the teachers in my life, from goodly parents and local leaders and teachers to the men and women who have been called to teach and testify from this pulpit, who help us to know and follow Jesus Christ. And I’m grateful for the Holy Ghost, the perfect Tutor. It is through the Holy Ghost that I know that Heavenly Father loves us and has a perfect plan for us; that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world; and that His gospel and Church have been restored. I gratefully testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.