Scripture study has made a positive change in my life. I enjoy studying the scriptures on my own, with my family, and here at church. I can study the scriptures to learn, but the scriptures are also a tool to bring me closer to Christ by inviting the Spirit into my life. Studying the scriptures can also help me grow in unity with the people I study with.
I like reading the scriptures to get instruction. They teach me how to act. Throughout the scriptures, there are small things people do that I can also do. A focused reading of the scriptures helps me notice those small things, examples I can follow. For example, I’m probably not going to heal the sick or raise the dead as Christ did, but I can mourn with those that mourn, as He did. “And Jesus wept” – it’s a very short scripture, but it’s a simple act of loving kindness that Jesus performed, simple enough that I can do it too. I can love others! Once I passed someone in the hallway at school who I never talked to, but I recognized from one of my classes. I just said hi to him, and he started smiling with a very big smile. I just said hi, it was a very simple thing to do, but I could tell he appreciated it a lot. Charity is at the center of this gospel. And there are many other simple things people did, such as Nephi praying for the Zarahemlaites when he was rejected. Charity is simple.
Reading the scriptures also helps me to better love and appreciate Christ. It helps me want to learn more. President Boyd K. Packer said, “The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. … True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.” If I was just told what to do without any further explanation or context, it can be hard to obey. But, for example, when I know that we are here on this earth to grow, it is easier for me to do hard things. When I know that Christ will help us after we start trying, like when the Red Sea was parted after Moses started walking in, it’s easier for me to have faith. When I learn about how Christ acts, what he does for us, and why we are here, it helps me want to follow the commandments and it brings me closer to Him.
A big purpose of the scriptures is also to invite the Spirit, which brings peace into my daily life. The past school year, my family started each day with family scripture study, and I could see a change in our lives. Our days were much smother, much less rushed, and much more peaceful. From what I can remember, our busiest morning this year was less busy than our least busy morning before we started morning scripture study.
Having the Spirit in my life is also very helpful when I have trials. In primary, I learned about the foolish man who built his house on the sand, without a foundation. It washed away in the floods. The wise man built his house on a strong rock, and “the house on the rock stood still”. Christ is our “rock”. When I build my life on him and his gospel, I can have a special connection with him, and he will always help me. I am sure trials will come, so I am glad I am able to strengthen that connection with him now. President Russel M. Nelson warned, “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” We sing, “How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!” If we have Christ in our lives as our strong foundation, he will tell us, “Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”
Finally, when we study the gospel together, I can both learn from and teach others. This church is a community. We work together, we serve together, we learn together. President Dallin H. Oaks said, “Jesus did not pray that His followers would be ‘diverse’, He prayed that they would be ‘one’. Modern revelation does not say, ‘Be diverse; and if ye are not diverse, ye are not mine.’ It says, ‘Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine’.” We meet together as quorums and classes twice a month, and we meet as a ward every week. Studying the gospel together helps me to notice new things in the scriptures I probably wouldn’t have noticed on my own. When we learn from each other, we grow in unity, and it’s important for families, quorums or classes, wards, and the entire church to be as one like President Oaks said. President Gordon B. Hinkley counseled, “I remember when President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., as a counselor in the First Presidency, would stand at this pulpit and plead for unity among the priesthood. I think he was not asking that we give up our individual personalities and become as robots cast from a single mold. I am confident he was not asking that we cease to think, to meditate, to ponder as individuals. I think he was telling us that if we are to assist in moving forward the work of God, we must carry in our hearts a united conviction concerning the great basic foundation stones of our faith … we must carry in our hearts a united conviction that the ordinances and covenants of this work are eternal and everlasting in their consequences.” We all have a part in the work of God, and to accomplish it we must put aside any differences or conflicts and work together. We are all unique, and that’s good! But we can act as one Church. We are one Church. The prophet Paul told the Galatians, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all bone in Christ Jesus.” We all have the shared foundation of Christ, and our weekly meetings allow us to help each other strengthen our testimonies.
I now bear my testimony that I know the scriptures are true, and the Spirit will manifest the truth unto us. I know that this Church is Christ’s true Church. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.