“Choose to Be Spiritually Minded,” Liahona, Sept. 2022.
Choose to Be Spiritually Minded
Maintaining our spiritual progress on the gospel path is like pedaling a bicycle—both require diligent effort.
Illustrations by Dilleen Marsh
Dealing with change and knowing what to do in troubled times is one of the extraordinary blessings of being a faithful member of the Lord’s Church. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the privilege to receive continual guidance and inspiration as we remain faithful.
Life, Peace, Guidance, and Protection
The Apostle Paul said, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6; see also verse 5).
Choosing to be spiritually minded by living a life worthy of the Holy Ghost’s gentle persuasions will provide you guidance in your decisions and protection from both physical and spiritual danger. Through the Holy Ghost, you can receive gifts of the Spirit for your benefit and for the benefit of those you love and serve. His communication to your spirit carries far more certainty than any communication you can receive through your natural senses.
How can you live a spiritually minded life and have more abundant guidance from the Holy Ghost?
1. Be in tune with our Heavenly Father and the Savior.
When we are in harmony with Heavenly Father, we have the companionship of His Spirit. As we make that harmony a priority in our lives, we draw near unto Him and His Son, “Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:24).
2. Love God.
Loving our Heavenly Father and cultivating a relationship with Him in prayer will keep Him in our minds and hearts.
The Apostle John, with his testimony of God’s love for us and with his personal witness of Jesus Christ, refuted the false belief that salvation can be achieved by means other than through faith in Jesus Christ. John invited his readers to experience the joy of being in harmony with the Father and the Son (see 1 John 1:3). He added:
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. …
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15, 17).
In this life we can feel the love of God through the companionship of His Spirit. When we do the will of our Father in Heaven and strive to stay on the path that leads us to Him, the Holy Ghost can guide us.1
3. Remember what the Savior did for us.
The promise in both sacrament prayers is “that they [who partake] may … have his Spirit to be with them” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79). We take the sacrament every week because we want to preserve and nurture our spirituality.
President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, has taught: “As we draw farther from worldliness, we feel closer to our Father in Heaven and more able to be guided by his Spirit. We call this quality of life spirituality.” President Oaks added: “How we interpret our experiences is also a function of our degree of spirituality. … We who have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ should interpret our experiences in terms of our knowledge of the purpose of life, the mission of our Savior, and the eternal destiny of the children of God.”2
4. Recognize spiritual things.
I attest that spirituality is a blessing of consistent effort on our part. As we seek to learn and follow the promptings of the Spirit, we can more easily distinguish things of God from things of the world.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Just as repetition and consistent effort are required to gain physical or mental capacity, the same is true in spiritual matters.”3
Develop Your Spirituality
Thanks to the foresight of Church leaders, we have many excellent tools to assist us in strengthening our spirituality. Think about the development of the Gospel Library app that allows the power of scriptures and gospel study to literally be in your pocket at all times. Think about changes associated with ministering that encourage the use of technology as we reach out to others. Consider the home-centered, Church-supported approach to learning and the Come, Follow Me curriculum, which can elevate our spirituality wherever we are.
We do not need to be in a spiritual quarantine with all these available resources! We can work together, choosing every opportunity to be spiritually minded, encouraging life and peace, and consciously making spirituality an integral part of our lives. The scriptures teach, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23).
Make and Keep Spiritual Goals
A spiritually minded person endeavors to strengthen his or her spirituality and, when setting goals, asks, “Are my goals giving adequate attention to my spiritual needs?”
A spiritually minded person seeks to know how to follow spiritual promptings and then acts on those promptings. Therefore, goal setting for spiritual growth is essential.
Annie, our five-year-old granddaughter, set a goal to learn to ride a bicycle. She practiced and caught on quickly, so her parents took her on a family bicycle ride.
While they were riding, Annie’s mother expressed amazement at how well Annie had biked up a hill and across a bridge. Annie shared the secret of her success: “I just hold on, Mom, and keep pedaling.”
We must do the same. It is by pedaling that we maintain our balance. The simple, daily acts of praying, studying scriptures, and following prophetic counsel keep our spirituality moving forward despite the hills, pandemics, and changes of life.
President Russell M. Nelson has said: “When your greatest desire is to let God prevail, to be part of Israel, so many decisions become easier. So many issues become nonissues! … You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you really want to become.”4
As you focus on what really matters, you will see that the process of strengthening your spirituality and becoming spiritually minded can be simple, though it requires effort and diligence. So, hold on and keep pedaling!
Nurture Your Spiritual Liahona
You are nudged, poked, and pulled in so many directions by so many voices of this world that at times you might feel hesitant about which direction you should go. Remember that your spiritual Liahona works best when you differentiate the voice of the Spirit from the voices of the world.
The Holy Ghost is calm, clear, and comforting. It gives specific guidance to bring you peace and hope. It works in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, fulfilling several roles to help you live righteously and receive the blessings of the gospel.
“The ultimate source of spiritual power is God our Father,” said President Nelson. “The messenger of this power is the Holy Ghost. This power differs from electrical power. An electrical appliance consumes power. The use of His spiritual power replenishes our power. While electrical power can be used only for measured periods of time, spiritual power can be used for time and eternity!”5
To become spiritually minded, hold on, keep pedaling, and set spiritual goals. Use the many resources available to you to strengthen your spirit.
I testify that to be spiritually minded is indeed life and peace (see 2 Nephi 9:39), that our quality of life improves when we are in harmony with the Father and the Son, and that God loves us and is mindful of us and our needs.
From a devotional address, “To Be Spiritually Minded Is Life and Peace,” delivered at Brigham Young University on February 9, 2021. For the full address, go to speeches.byu.edu.