"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth you, give I unto you." (John 14:27)

The other night as we were reading scriptures as a family one of our children was very frustrated and stated bluntly that it was boring and besides he "didn't understand a darn thing" we were reading. I don't blame him. We had been reading 2 Nephi, the Isaiah chapters as we call them, in The Book of Mormon (get your free copy here), the past several nights which can be very challenging for even the most proficient adult reader. As I have pondered his frustration I realized that reading the scriptures is really like reading a different language. It is learning the language of the Spirit and how God speaks, communicates, and ultimately behaves. I feel that it continues to be a life time of learning to understand this language and I am never left unsatisfied in my efforts as I continue to learn this powerful language that is more than just words on a page.

President Monson has said there is "one language...that is common to each missionary- the language of the Spirit. It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit comes to him [or her] who seeks with all his [or her] heart to know God and keep His divine commandments. Proficiency in this language permits one to breach barriers, overcome obstacles, and touch the human heart" (The Spirit Giveth Life). As we learn the language of the Spirit we are able to understand how God communicates, and how He behaves. There are many references in the scriptures about how we can learn and understand this language.

One important thing to remember is that the Spirit is a "still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things" (D&C 85:6; see also Helaman 5:30-31; 1 Kings 19:12). In order to understand a language we must first be able to hear it, which takes practice. The language of the Spirit is still- meaning quite, peaceful or calm. Think in contrast to the constant noise which is around us today with music or news playing in our ears wherever we go, with little chance of peace and quiet. We must make time to know how it feels to be "still", so that when the language is spoken or we hear it, we will recognize it in our minds and in our hearts (see D&C 8:2). President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said of the Spirit: "The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a "still small voice". And while we speak of "listening" to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, "I had a feeling..." (Personal Revelation: The Gift, The Test, and The Promise).

Nephi taught:

 "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold , the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. Wherefore, now after I have spoken these works, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all thing what ye should do" 

(2 Nephi 32:3-5).

There is much to learn about the language of the Spirit in these three verses. I testify that scripture study is a conduit to heaven. It opens the windows of communication and allows the Spirit to "tell" and "show" you "all things what ye should do". Things that seemed to make no sense have become clear as I have studied the scriptures and asked, just as Nephi taught. I know that as you take the time to learn this language, your communication skills will improve and the Lord's promise, "prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10) will be strengthened and given to you in all areas of your life.

The language of the Spirit is also the same as the fruit of the Spirit and will be manifest in your life as you come to understand and apply this heavenly and divine way of communicating. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). This language is a way of living, not just nice words or phrases in a book. I have noticed these "fruits" are listed in several places in the scriptures (see D&C 4:6;  D&C 121:41-42; 2 Peter 1:4-8; Moroni 7:45). It is because they are the way Christ acts, it is His Divine nature. Christ promised that "...the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). Even when we struggle with this beautiful and powerful language, which we will, He will send the Comforter, which is the Spirit to teach us how to learn it. It is our guide (see D&C 45:57) to bring us back to Him. He wants us to learn this language so that not only will our language of words be changed, but that our very natures are changed.

My son was right. Learning to read the scriptures and understand them is hard. Learning a new language is difficult and takes time and effort. But the most powerful and life changing language is the language of the Spirit and the Savior has promised us, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth you, give I unto you." (John 14:27). When we talk about the voice of the Spirit being a "still small voice" it truly is a voice of peace, we just need to learn how to understand, "hear and know the voice by which [we] shall be called" (Mosiah 5:12), and that is the voice of our Savior.



A few extra links for learning more about the language of the Spirit: (I would love to hear what links you have found that have helped you in your personal study. Please feel free to share them with me.)
How Do I Know What I Am Feeling Is the Spirit and Not Just My Own Emotions?
Hymn # 143 Let the Holy Spirit Guide
Prayer and Promptings
Reverence Invites Revelation

I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering..." (Alma 38:3)

I have been blessed to have one daughter. She is an amazing young woman. It is such a blessing as a parent when we finally meet parents of her friends and they tell us that they know if their child is with our daughter they trust, implicitly, that they have nothing to worry about when our children are together. I want to say..."unto you, my [daughter], that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering..." (Alma 38:3).

I believe all parents want to have "great joy" in their children. Each child is different and blesses us as parents to help us learn and develop, "that by these [we] might be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). The "divine nature" is the Savior's character. "That is our charge" to become like our Savior (Pres. Ezra Taft Benson), and our children help us to become as He is as we parent these "precious little ones" (Pres. Thomas S. Monson), this includes teenagers. It is wonderful being a parent of teenagers!

As we parent our children, and if we don't have children, we can practice these virtues and develop the character of Christ every day as we associate with others. The first virtue, and the one I want to focus on, is "faith" (2 Peter 1:5) "[Faith] is a prerequisite for all other virtues" (Pres. Ezra Taft Benson). Faith is a virtue that leads us in times of darkness, when we have no idea how to help our children or our family, but we know that God knows, and therefore, we go forth with faith. When we have faith in Christ, our efforts and our lives show it because faith produces good works (see James 2:14, 17-26). The good works of attending church even when the Sunday School teacher is boring but we go anyway. Or the good works of paying our tithing when we know we need to pay bills but we choose to put God first in our lives and have the faith the the Lord will "open you the windows of heaven" (Malachi 3:10). Christ had the faith to finish His work, the atonement for us. We, too, must develop the godly characteristic of faith, even as we parent our children.

Faith isn't developed by fear or controlling our children. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). The power from God and the power of love and the power of faith enable us to lead our children and inspire our children to know for themselves how to "choose good or evil" (Alma 13:3). We don't need to manipulate them into choosing good. It is vital that they learn to judge for themselves "to discern good from evil" (The Guide to the Scriptures). It takes faith to teach our children and then even more faith to let them make choices on their own, that they will make good choices that will lead them back to our Father in Heaven when we aren't around.This is when we have "great joy" (Alma 38:3).

Some children may not choose to follow what we have taught them as parents. It takes faith to trust that our Father in Heaven will help us know how to love them and continue to teach them and guide them. President Hinckley said, "You parents, love your children. Cherish them. They are so precious. They are so very, very important. They are the future. You need more than your own wisdom in rearing them. You need the help of the Lord. Pray for that help and follow the inspiration which you receive" (The Fabric of Faith and Testimony). As parents, we will receive divine guidance and help to know what to do and how to help our children, not in fear, but in love. The blessings come when we act in faith on those promptings and inspiration that does come.

We show and strengthen our faith in Christ as we gather our children around us this Christmas and all year long as "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ...that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). We do this in love and faith. We are developing the "divine nature" that is a part of who we are and want to and should teach our children. We will say, "I have had great joy in thee already because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence" (Alma 38:3) when our children think of Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Christ and they "look to God and live" (Alma 37:47) every day of their lives because of the "unfeigned faith that is in [them]" (2 Timothy 1:5) no matter what their age. This I testify.