“Seek Understanding,” For the Strength of Youth, Aug. 2023.
Last Word
Seek Understanding
Adapted from an April 2019 general conference address.
Illustrations by Emily Jones
Our purpose as we seek an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ must be to increase faith in God and in His divine plan of happiness and in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice and to achieve lasting conversion. Such increased faith and conversion will help us make and keep covenants with God, thus strengthening our desire to follow Jesus and producing a genuine spiritual transformation in us. This transformation will bring us a more happy, productive, and healthy life and help us to maintain an eternal perspective.
To achieve this, we need to abide in Jesus Christ by immersing ourselves in the scriptures, rejoicing in them, learning His doctrine, and striving to live the way He lived. Only then will we come to know Him and recognize His voice, knowing that as we come unto Him and believe in Him, we shall never hunger nor thirst (see John 6:35).
That doesn’t happen by chance. Attuning ourselves to the highest influences of godliness is not a simple matter; it requires calling upon God and learning how to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the center of our lives.
I testify to you that when we earnestly, heartily, firmly, and sincerely seek to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach it to one another with real purpose and under the influence of the Spirit, these teachings may transform hearts and inspire a desire to live according to the truths of God.