Monday, February 4, 2008

The Power of the Holy Ghost

Read this closely to see the many ways the spirit can bless and change us physically, socially, mentally, and spiritually. A few of my favorites are that it makes us smarter, prettier (or more handsome), better socially, kinder, healthier, and happier! Who wouldn't want these??

"The gift of the Holy Ghost adapts itself to all these organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form, and features, it tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being" (Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p.61)

So perhaps our energy would be more efficiently expended if directed towards obtaining and retaining the spirit instead of striving for each of these attributes individually in a different/worldly way. Next time you skip church, a devotional or fireside, scripture reading, or prayers in order to study for school, exercise, or take more time beautifying yourself, remember that, while good activities, it would actually be better* to first do those things that would bring the spirit in your life. It would really be more productive than would be your own weak humanly efforts. It is true that if we seek first after God and godly things, we will be blessed in every other aspect of our life.

*(See talk by Elder Oaks in October '07 conference, Good, Better, Best)