The Liahona and the Liahona

By R. Val Johnson

Managing Editor of the Liahona (2006–16) and Ensign (2010–16)

hands holding model of the Liahona

We can learn a lot about what the Liahona magazine is intended to do by studying what the Book of Mormon says about the Liahona given to Lehi and his family. The Liahona was a “director” (Alma 37:38). While it is often compared to a compass, it is much different from maps and compasses—or even GPS devices—that the world uses.

For one thing, the Liahona was interactive—functioning only as Lehi and his family exercised faith, heed, and diligence in following it. In similar fashion, the Liahona magazine is to teach, inspire, and motivate people to exercise faith in Christ. Here’s a chart that compares the Liahona with the Liahona.

Reference	Liahona, the director	Liahona, the magazine
1 Nephi 16:10	Made of “fine brass” with “curious workmanship.” Indicated the direction to go in the wilderness.	Well crafted, both editorially and visually. Provides directions in this wilderness of mortality.
1 Nephi 16:16	Led to “the more fertile parts of the wilderness.”	Leads to spiritual nourishment.
1 Nephi 16:25–27	Chastened those who murmured against the Lord, causing them to “fear and tremble exceedingly.”	Messages from Church leaders invite the Spirit, who on occasion chastises those who need to be humbled and return to the Lord.
1 Nephi 16:28	Worked “according to the faith and diligence and heed” given to it.	Works only if the counsel it contains is read and followed in faith with diligence.
1 Nephi 16:29	From “time to time,” “new writing” appeared that was “plain to be read” and gave “understanding concerning the ways of the Lord.” Served as a “small means” to accomplish “great things.”	Each month, refreshes readers with new writing that is easy to understand and teaches “the ways of the Lord.” Serves as a “small means” to accomplish “great things.”
1 Nephi 16:30–32	Directed Nephi to go “up into the top of the mountain” to save his family from starvation. They rejoiced and humbled themselves before the Lord.	Directs readers to the “top of the mountain” (the temple, personal revelation) to receive spiritual sustenance and find joy in the Lord’s presence.
Mosiah 1:16	“Prepared by the hand of the Lord” so every individual could be led “according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him” (emphasis added).	Content is prepared with guidance and inspiration. Each individual can find personal direction in it, according to his or her faith in Christ.
Alma 37:39	No man would have been able to “work after the manner of so curious a workmanship.”	The Liahona is crafted by inspiration, which is better than what the hands of men could do on their own.

Hundreds of years after the journey of Lehi and his family, Alma referred to the Liahona, teaching many of the same concepts associated with that earlier experience. But he also added a caution—that when those journeying with Lehi “were slothful,” the works of the Lord ceased and they “did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst” (Alma 37:41–42). When we become spiritually lazy, we can lose the guidance the Lord would like us to have in our lives.

One of the most important ways the Liahona operates differently from the world is that it has its source in revelation. It also functions as a conduit for revelation. Providing the words of living prophets, it serves as a Liahona for your life that can provide personal revelation to guide you and your family to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.