Continuing with a post from Larry W. Tippetts’ book ‘Receiving Personal Revelation’:
Recently I read the biography of President Henry B. Eyring, ‘I Will Lead You Along.’ The book includes hundreds of excerpts from his personal journals. I was impressed by President’s Eyring’s efforts to improve as a husband, father, priesthood holder, and employee. It was evident that he used his journal as a means of monitoring the development of his personal character and spiritual growth. “Many appointments today, the backlog of weeks. Most people asked for money or favors. In most cases I denied the request, too often without the proper expression of compassion. . . . I’ve got a ways to go to learn compassion under fatigue” (5 April, 1972). Despite a good day of working at the office and playing golf with Kathy in the evening, I managed to be too gruff and tense to give Kathy a good day. I’ve miles to go to learn how to be kind when I’m feeling pressures. And no other kindness makes much difference, since life is mostly pressure” (May 18, 1973) (Robert I. Eaton and Henry J. Eyring, [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book, 2013], 232-233).
We all desire to improve, and our journals can become an effective means of helping us remember and follow through on our resolves. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the spiritual experiences of our lives are intended to make a new person of us—one who looks at life from a different, more divine perspective. “Personal record keeping serves as an important tool in the perfecting of the Saints. Reflecting on one’s temporal and spiritual life in writing transforms transitory experience into tangible product that can be returned to again and again for spiritual contemplation, confirmation, and growth” (Mould, Still, the Small Voice, 330).
From the summary (of Chapter 5, Receiving Personal Revelation)
What will we do when revelation comes? Is it enough to simply feel good about receiving light and truth from our Heavenly Father? Doesn’t every revelation imply some kind of action or response on our part? What are the consequences of forgetting? How do we keep revelation alive (remembered and applied) and ongoing (additional light, the next step)? Your journal can be instrumental in answering these questions. . . . I believe one’s journal—used correctly—can even be a means of creating additional desire. It can become a sacred repository of sincere introspection and self-evaluation, and help us focus on things that matter most—all of which can lead to greater desire.
In summary, your personal journal can become a sacred place to
- record what God would have you do, feel, believe, or even desire;
- formulate plans to achieve, do, overcome, attain, change, and so forth;
- monitor progress and growth (as well as setbacks and relapses);
- and finally, testify of successes—and then repeat the process throughout your life.
A journal should be a record of ongoing efforts to overcome sins and weaknesses and bear the infirmities with which we each struggle in mortality. Most are personal. I remember my first attempt to use my journal to help me overcome the tendency to raise my voice when I became frustrated in trying to discipline my rambunctious boys. I privately monitored my progress on a daily basis for many weeks before my wife made a comment that she had noticed a real improvement. My youngest son says he can’t remember me ever losing my temper, but I know I slipped a few times. Since that first experiment I have continued to use my journal to set personal improvement goals and record my progress. I would emphasize the role of divine grace in this process of becoming more like Jesus Christ. . . .~Larry W. Tippetts, Receiving Personal Revelation (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc, 2017), p.42-44
