21 Principles-Principle 1

Today I am going to start a series based on the book, 21 Principles: Divine Truths To Help You Live By The Spirit, by Richard G. Scott.  Before I cover the principle for this week, I want to tell you a little story about how I ended up with this book and how it has touched me and inspired me.

A few years ago, I was supposed to teach a Relief Society lesson to the ladies in the local care center.  For those of you who are not LDS, Relief Society is the name of the women’s organization in our church.  It’s where we meet as women and discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ,  and how to be better mothers, wives, and daughters of our Heavenly Father.  We have several ladies who are members of our church that are in our local care center.  So we take turns in the community and go up to the care center and hold meetings for them there, as they can’t leave easily.  There is a main meeting on Sundays, and on Thursdays, we have Relief Society for the women.

Anyway, I was asked to teach the lesson and it was pretty much up to me what I would teach these older and much wiser ladies.  I tossed around several topics and nothing felt right.  I prayed and worried about it for a long time.  Then just 2 days before I was to teach a lesson, I went to a local store with my husband. I always gravitate to the book section, as I am a bookaholic.  While looking things over, I saw this book, and felt immediately drawn to pick it up.  I opened it, and read just a couple of the principles as I flipped through the pages.  In that instant, I knew that this was what I was supposed to teach.  And as I have had this book, I have felt very strong promptings to share these principles here on my blog as well.

So what I have planned, is to share the principle and then share my own thoughts on it each week.  If you want to read the thoughts of Richard G. Scott on each principle, (and they are VERY inspired and uplifting), you can get your own copy of this book here.  This link is to the Kindle version of this book and it is NOT an affiliate link.  Though I do have an affiliate account with Amazon, I just don’t feel right in using it here in these circumstances.

“As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles,” counsels Elder Richard G. Scott. “Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances.”

“A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and challenging circumstances.”

I think that this principle is perhaps one of the most important ones.  It is up to us to ask the Lord to help us and guide us and bless us with the things we need.  While the Lord knows what we need, He still needs for us to humble ourselves before Him and ask for His help.  When we do that, He will guide and direct us through the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost.  These impressions can come as a feeling or a fleeting thought.  But the more we exercise this spiritual muscle, the better we will become at recognizing the influence of the Spirit in our lives.  We will be in tune with the Lord and His will for us.  We will be able to make correct decisions and that in turn will bring more light into our lives.

As we go through these principles each week, I will most likely point back to this one as I feel that they all point back to this one.  It is just that important for us to understand.

For me, the Spirit speaks to me in my heart and my mind.  Rarely do I ever hear an actual voice.  I know some people who do hear a voice.  But for most of us, it is more common to feel things and have thoughts that are clearly from the Holy Ghost.  In Galatians 5:22-23 we read about the fruit of the Spirit.  These are the things that are good and are how we can know we are feeling the Spirit of God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance:  against such there is no law.”

If we are feeling these feelings, then we have the Spirit with us.  And we can receive personal revelation through the Spirit from our Heavenly Father.  That comforts me and helps me to know that I am not alone.  That my Heavenly Father has given me clear instruction on how to recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost in my life and that this influence is good.  It should make me happy.

This is a spiritual muscle that I try to work on all the time.  I am not perfect at it.  But I keep trying and that is what is most important.  I know the Lord blesses me for my efforts and willingness to try.  If we ask Him, he will bless us.  Sometimes we may not understand those blessings right away.  But the Lord knows best and will guide and direct us if we ask.

This picture is one of my favorites of the Savior.  I have lots of favorite pictures of the Savior.  But this one especially reminds me of the importance of asking Him for the things I need.  If you look closely at the door, you will see that there is not a doorknob in the door.  That is because the Lord is waiting for us to open the door to Him.  It is up to us to invite Him in.  Once we do that, He will help us all He can.  But we have the free agency to open that door or not.

It really is just that simple.  Just ask.  Open the door to your heart and mind.  He will bless you.  He will send the Holy Ghost to guide and direct you to what the Lord has in store for you.  It will make you truly happy.  This I know.  And you can too.  Just ask.