Mosiah 12: 19-37

What inspires you to keep the commandments of God?

"19 And they began to question him, that they might cross him, that thereby they might have wherewith to ^aaccuse him; but he answered them boldly, and withstood all their questions, yea, to their astonishment; for he did ^bwithstand them in all their questions, and did confound them in all their words.

20 And it came to pass that one of them said unto him: ^aWhat meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying:

21 ^aHow beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him ^bthat bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;

22 ^aThy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion;

23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;

24 The Lord hath made bare his holy ^aarm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God?

25 And now Abinadi said unto them: Are you ^apriests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?

26 I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.

27 Ye have not applied your ^ahearts to ^bunderstanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?

28 And they said: We teach the law of Moses.

29 And again he said unto them: If ye teach the ^alaw of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon ^briches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and ^cspend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?

30 Know ye not that I speak the ^atruth? Yea, ye know that I speak the truth; and you ought to tremble before God.

31 And it shall come to pass that ye shall be smitten for your iniquities, for ye have said that ye teach the law of Moses. And what know ye concerning the law of Moses? ^aDoth salvation come by the law of Moses? What say ye?

32 And they answered and said that salvation did come by the law of Moses.

33 But now Abinadi said unto them: I know if ye ^akeep the commandments of God ye shall be saved; yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of ^bSinai, saying:

34 ^aI am the Lord thy God, who hath ^bbrought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

35 Thou shalt have no ^aother God before me.

36 ^aThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing in heaven above, or things which are in the earth beneath.

37 Now Abinadi said unto them, Have ye done all this? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not. And have ye ^ataught this people that they should do all these things? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not" (Mosiah 12: 19-37)

And here's the commentary entitled: "I need to apply my heart to understanding God’s word." :

"King Noah’s priests were familiar with the word of God. They could quote passages of scripture and claim to teach the commandments. And yet, their lives seemed unaffected by the Savior’s gospel. Why was that?

Think about this as you read Mosiah 12:19–37. What do you think it means to apply your heart to understanding God’s word? What words or phrases inspire you to make changes in the way you approach learning the gospel?"

To apply your heart to understanding God's word means not just understanding God's words with the intellect or just knowing the words of God with the mind. It means understanding God's words with the heart and mind together. It also means feeling the value of God's words and showing appreciation for them by putting them into practice.