Learning Through the Spirit
By Sheridan Murray
The ways in which we learn here at Brigham Young University are different from any other institution. This wondrous place of knowledge is dedicated to learning through the spirit. How do we learn through the spirit? Well there are certain things that need to happen on both the students end and the teachers.
I would like to start out by saying that all things should be learned through the promptings of the spirit, and that without the companionship of the Holy Ghost, there is something lost in the learning. “For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men”(2). The Holy Ghost can carry it unto our hearts, but we have to let it in and let it influence us, it can have no effect if we do not do our part.
We keep our hearts open to the spirit through keeping the commandments of the Lord. As we strive to follow Christ’s example and keep our hearts open to him we are able to learn his teachings more easily. “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: 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, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more” (2). When we show our willingness to submit to his will he blesses us with more knowledge and responsibility. The more we recognize his hand in our lives the more he blesses us with his love and shares with us his knowledge.
Our search for knowledge does not only have to be for spiritual knowledge. We are to learn things that will help us progress in this life in this bustling world. There were not many LDS people in any of my schools growing up. The few of us that were there were really close and we took every opportunity we could to share the Gospel whenever possible in our classes. I would, however, often find myself wanting to do assignments in a way that was pleasing to the teacher, not necessarily to the Lord. I often had opportunities to share what I believe in papers or presentations, however many of my teachers disagreed with my viewpoint and it would often end up with a grade that I felt was less than I deserved. Many times it was hard to not let myself just give in and tell the teacher I shared the same opinion, but each time I did make the effort to prove myself it was well worth it. These words from Nephi were often comforting to me, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2). I knew that if I stuck to my guns, Heavenly Father would bless me in my testimony and in other aspects of life, even if I did not make the grade I desired on certain assignments.
When we believe in Christ and lean on him for our understanding, he blesses us beyond measure. Here at Brigham Young University we are blessed to be surrounded by people with our same beliefs. “ Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea”(2). President Jay E Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy said, “Because we are spiritual beings, it is essential that we learn by the power of the spirit. (Any) message can be different and tailored by the Spirit to the needs of the individual” (1). Through searching the prophet’s words and in being open to the spirit of revelation we can do anything through the Lord who strengthens us.
1 Jay E. Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy
2 The Book of Mormon
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9 comments:
Sheridan, I like your topic. I also like your discussion of how we learn by being submissive. I would love to hear more about this though. Can you expound more on the scriptures? Comments? Evaluation? What are the main ideas in your paragraphs and how do they relate to your thesis? What is your thesis?
Sheridan,
First off I love your name just had to tell you!
But about your blog I love how your took something that is so true that fact that we learn from being submissive to the holy ghost and that here at BYU we have such a blessing and opertunity to learn things from a secular stance with an extra spiritual boost. We focus our learning on how the secular learning backs up even more so our spiritual knowledge.
I really appreciated the honesty you shared in your blog. I love how you associated spiritual learning and earthly knowledge. We can always be looking for ways to share our testimonies and get blessed for out efforts.
I liked your topic alot. Good job at applying it to BYU. I would have liked to have heard a little more too though.
The spirit makes learning so much easier! Thank you for your blog.
It is so true that here at BYU we strive to learn through the Spirit. It is so important and thank you for your insight on learning spiritually in a secular environment. Being submissive to the spirit is a powerful thought and hope we all learn from your blog!
This fits right into one of my recent D&C lessons. Learning in the light of the spirit is one of my favorite things about BYU! Good job.
I appreciated how you related learning through the spirit with how we learn here at BYU. Your understanding of how the Spirit teaches us can be clearly seen through your blog. Good job!
I loved your insights, really! Especially when you said that without the companionship of the Holy Ghost, "something is missing from the learning". What a powerful and true statement! Thank you!
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