Continuing from Elder Henry B. Eyring’s book, ‘To Draw Closer to God’, (see October 20th post ‘the true standard of goodness‘): You might well object by saying that human examples are so much more accessible for observation. No, humans are more available, but, at least in my experience, their lives are not more accessible. Our Father in heaven and the Savior have revealed themselves in detail through the prophets, through heavenly visitations, and in person since man was created. There is a clearer description of the goodness of God than you will get of any mortal you can observe.
“And you need not fear that using God as your standard will overwhelm you. On the contrary—God asks only that we approach Him humbly, as a child. He does not require that we master some difficult doctrine. A child can enter the kingdom of heaven. Remember the description of that surrender in the Book of Mormon: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19) (Continuing . . .
That submission, that simple desire to do what he would have us do, makes available to you and me the sure guide for knowing what is good. If you want to believe in Christ, if you want to do good, the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Ghost will prompt you. Here is the promise: “For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore I show unto you the way to judge; for everything which inviteth to do good, and persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ: wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.” (Moroni 7:15-16)
Two ways of applying that invitation to be guided have worked for me. One is to read the scriptures to try to feel what the Savior feels. For me, that happens most often when I read the description of the resurrected Savior among the Nephites. Here is a single verse that helps me: “And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.” (3 Nephi 17:14.)
Now, for me, at the right moment. I can begin to feel the pain the Savior felt for sins, yours and mine. His groan within himself came after he had paid the price for us, after the Atonement. His being troubled was not some abstract grief for our sins and those of the house of Israel. His was real pain, recently felt, as he took upon him the sins of the world. I can’t experience that, but I can sense it enough to have sorrow for what I added to it. I can resolve to add no more. And I can feel determination that will offer full blessings of the Atonement to as many as I can, because that passage helps me feel, in a small way, what taking upon him the sins of all mankind cost the Savior.
As I try to feel what he felt, I’ve tried to do another thing, both as I read and in prayer: I’ve tried to know what he would do if he had my opportunities. You might try that. If you have had trouble getting answers to your prayers, try asking today, “What is there today you would have me do?” That prayer will be answered if you are sincere and if you listen like a little child, with real intent to act.
I must be careful about what I promise you as you try choosing to be good. It won’t be all roses. President Ezra Taft Benson spent a lifetime trying to be good. Every time I was with him I felt his goodness. As nearly as I could tell he had used the Savior as his standard about as well as anyone I ever knew. And yet, in his advanced years, life got harder, not easier. In 1989 he expressed a sense of joy that included the edge of reality: “I leave you my testimony of the joy of living—of the joys of the full gospel and of going through the Refiner’s fire and the sanctification process that takes place. As the Apostle Paul said, ‘We know all things work together for good to them that love God.'(Romans 8:28.)” (“To the Elderly of the Church,” Ensign, November 1989, p.8.) ~ Henry B. Eyring, ‘To Draw Closer to God’ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997),
continued. . .
