How have you been blessed by seeking learning "by study and also by faith"?
"77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;
79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you." (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 77-80)
"Your Heavenly Father is a God of truth. He is all-knowing. All truth comes from Him and leads to Him. You show that you value truth as you seek learning, live with integrity, and bravely stand for what you know is right—even if you have to stand alone.
Eternal truths
Heavenly Father wants His daughters and sons to always be learning. You have both temporal and spiritual reasons to seek and love learning. Education is not just about earning money. It is part of your eternal goal to become more like Heavenly Father.
Living with integrity means that you love truth with all your heart—more than you love personal comfort, popularity, or convenience. It means doing what is right simply because it is right.
You have something precious to share. The gospel of Jesus Christ holds the answers to life’s questions. It is the way to peace and happiness. You may not know everything, but you know enough to help others understand and value true, eternal principles.
Invitations
Always be learning. Look for opportunities to expand your mind and your skills. These opportunities can include formal education at school or vocational training as well as informal learning from sources you trust. Involve the Lord in your efforts, and He will guide you. As you learn about the world around you, learn also about the Savior, who created the world. Study His life and teachings. Make seminary, institute, and personal gospel study part of your lifelong learning.
Love the truth so much that you would never want to steal, lie, cheat, or deceive in any way—at school, at work, online, everywhere. Be the same faithful follower of Jesus Christ in public and in private.
Be a light for others. Let your words and your actions reflect your faith in Jesus Christ. Prepare now for future opportunities to share His glorious gospel, as a missionary and throughout your life. And be ready to tell anyone who asks you about the hope and happiness you feel.
Promised blessings
Education increases your ability to serve the Lord. It empowers you to bless others, especially your family. The more you learn, the more you can help build God’s kingdom and influence the world for good.
Honesty brings peace and self-respect. When your words and actions align with truth, you show that you can be trusted—by other people and by the Lord.
When you stand up for the teachings of Jesus Christ, He stands with you. Others may not agree with you, but your courage and sincerity will be noticed. Whether or not others follow your example, your testimony, confidence, and faith in Christ will grow." (Truth will make you free, For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices)
"118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 118)
"We should learn to discern the truth not only through our rational minds but also through the very still and small voice of the Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord has repeatedly told us to “seek learning even by study and also by faith.” We can receive light and understanding not only through the logical reasoning of our minds but also through the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
This additional source of knowledge has not always been part of my life.
My dear wife, Irene, and I joined the Church 31 years ago when we were newly married. We had both grown up in Colombia, but a few months after our marriage, my career took us to live in Germany. We were very young and had great hopes and expectations; it was an especially exciting and happy time for us.
While I was concentrated on my career, Irene was feeling that we would receive some kind of message from heaven, without knowing how or when. So she started letting into our home all kinds of door-to-door salespeople with encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, cookbooks, kitchen appliances, and so on, always waiting for that unique message.
One evening she told me that two young men in dark suits had knocked on our door and that she had felt a very clear and distinct impression to let them in. They had said that they wanted to talk to her about God but would come back again when I was also at home. Could this be the expected message?
They began to visit us, and with their guidance, we read in the scriptures and came to understand the crucial importance of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. We soon regretted that we had been baptized as little babies, which had not been a conscious covenant. However, being baptized again would also mean becoming members of this new Church, so first we really needed to understand everything about it.
But how could we know if what the missionaries were telling us about the Book of Mormon, about Joseph Smith, and about the plan of salvation was actually all true? Well, we had understood from the words of the Lord that we could “know them by their fruits.” So, in a very systematic manner, we started examining the Church by looking for those fruits with the eyes of our very rational minds. What did we see? Well, we saw:
Friendly and happy people and wonderful families who understood that we are meant to feel joy in this life and not just suffering and misery.
A church that does not have a paid clergy but one in which members themselves accept assignments and responsibilities.
A church where Jesus Christ and families are at the center of everything, where members fast once a month and donate to help the poor and needy, where healthy habits are promoted, teaching us to abstain from harmful substances.
In addition:
We liked the emphasis on personal growth, on education, on hard work and self-reliance.
We learned about the remarkable humanitarian program.
And we were impressed by the general conferences, with the wonderful music and the profound spiritual principles shared there.
Seeing all this, we could find no fault in the Church. On the contrary, we liked everything we saw very much. However, we still could not decide to be baptized because we wanted to know everything before doing so.
But, even in our indecision, the Lord was patiently preparing us, He was molding us, and He was helping us to discover that we should learn to discern the truth not only through our rational minds but also through the very still and small voice of the Spirit, which speaks especially to our hearts.
That voice and the resulting feeling came one evening after 10 months of learning the gospel, when we read in Mosiah 18, “As ye are desirous to … bear one another’s burdens, … and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord?”
That passage from the Book of Mormon entered our hearts and souls, and we suddenly felt and knew that there was really no reason not to be baptized. We realized that the desires mentioned in these verses were also the wishes of our hearts and that those things were what really mattered. They were more important than understanding everything because we already knew enough. We had always relied on the guiding hand of a loving Heavenly Father and were confident that He would continue to guide us.
So, that same day, we set up a date for our baptism, and soon we were baptized, finally!
What did we learn from that experience?
First, we learned that we can fully trust in a loving Heavenly Father, who is constantly trying to help us become the person He knows we can become. We confirmed the profound truth of His words when He said, “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, … for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more.”
And second, we learned that, in addition to our rational minds, another dimension to gaining knowledge can give us guidance and understanding. It is the still and soft voice of His Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and also to our minds.
I like to compare this principle with our visual capacity. Our Father in Heaven has given us not only one but two physical eyes. We can see adequately with only one eye, but the second eye provides us with another perspective. When both perspectives are put together in our brains, they produce a three-dimensional image of our surroundings.
Likewise, we have been given two sources of information, through our physical and spiritual capacities. Our mind produces one perception through our physical senses and through our reasoning. But through the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Father has also provided us with a second perspective, which is really the most important and true one because it comes directly from Him. But since the whisperings of the Spirit are often so subtle, many people are not consciously aware of that additional source.
When these two perspectives are then combined in our souls, one complete picture shows the reality of things as they truly are. In fact, through the additional perspective of the Holy Ghost, certain “realities,” as pictured exclusively through our mental understanding, can be exposed as deceiving or plainly wrong. Remember the words of Moroni: “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”
In my 31 years as a member of the Church, I have experienced many times that if we rely only on our rational mind and deny or neglect the spiritual understanding we can receive through the whisperings and impressions of the Holy Ghost, it is as if we were going through life with only one eye. But figuratively speaking, we have actually been given two eyes. Only the combination of both views can give us the true and complete picture of all truths and of everything we experience in our lives, as well as of the whole and profound understanding of our identity and purpose as children of a living Heavenly Father.
I am reminded of what President Russell M. Nelson taught us a year ago when he said that “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
I have come to know with absolute certainty that:
We have a loving Father in Heaven, and we all agreed to come to this earth as part of a divine plan.
Jesus is the Christ; He lives and is my Savior and Redeemer.
Joseph, a humble farm boy, was called and became the mighty prophet who initiated this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, with all of its keys, power, and authority of the holy priesthood of God.
The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ, and families are meant to remain together forever.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, leads this, His restored Church, through our living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, today.
These and many other precious truths have become spiritual building blocks of what God is helping me to become. And I look forward to the many new teachings that He still wants me—and you—to receive as we go through this wonderful life and “learn … even by study and also by faith.”
I know these things to be true and testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit By Elder Mathias Held Of the Seventy)
And here's the end part of the commentary entitled: “Seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” :
What do you think it means to learn “by study and also by faith”? (verse 118). What insights do you gain from Elder Mathias Held’s message “Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit”? (Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 31–33).
See also Topics and Questions, “Seeking Truth and Avoiding Deception,” Gospel Library; “A School and an Endowment,” in Revelations in Context, 174–82."
Why are learning and education important to the Lord?
Learning and education are important to the Lord because He wants His children to become like Him, the source of all truth. As we choose to continue learning and continue our education, we become the source of truth as well. What we're learning and the skillset we are developing also prepare us to magnify our callings where the Lord would call us.
What does He want me to study?
The Lord wants me to study different subjects: "things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms".
How does He want me to learn?
He wants me to seek the guidance of the Spirit as I learn by study and also by faith. And He wants me to value truth as I find it, live with integrity, and bravely stand for what I know is right—even if I have to stand alone.
What do you think it means to learn “by study and also by faith”?
From what I understand, to learn "by study and also by faith" means choosing to do what we can by studying and also exercising our faith in the Lord to help us discern the truth through His Spirit.
What insights do you gain from Elder Mathias Held’s message “Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit”?
The insights I gain from Elder Mathias Held message:
- The Lord wants us to learn the many precious truths that came from Him because He wants us to become like Him eventually.
- There are many teachings that He still wants us to receive as we go through this wonderful life and “learn … even by study and also by faith.”
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