”Give me a young woman who loves home and family, who reads and ponders the scriptures daily, who has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me a young woman who faithfully attends her church meetings, who is a seminary graduate, who has earned her Young Womanhood Recognition Award and wears it with pride! Give me a young woman who is virtuous and who has maintained her personal purity, who will not settle for less than a temple marriage, and I will give you a young woman who will perform miracles for the Lord now and throughout eternity.” Ezra Taft Benson
Tag Archives: spiritual strength
Spiritual Nutrition (Faust)
Spiritual nutrients, which keep us spiritually healthy, can lose their potency and strength if we do not live worthy of the divine guidance we need. The Savior has told us: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” We need to keep our minds and bodies clean from all forms of addiction and pollution. We would never choose to eat spoiled or contaminated food. In the same selective way, we should be careful not to read or view anything that is not in good taste. Much of the spiritual pollution that comes into our lives comes through the Internet, computer games, television shows and movies that are highly suggestive of or graphically portray humanity’s baser attributes. Because we live in such an environment, we need to increase our spiritual strength. - James E. Faust, “Spiritual Nutrients,” Ensign, (CR) October 2006
Personal “Sacred Groves”
In similar ways, the key to gaining the spiritual strength we need lies in what President Thomas S. Monson once described as entering a "sacred grove" of our own. He was teaching bishops, but the counsel applies to all members of the Church: "Every bishop needs a sacred grove to which he can retire to meditate and to pray for guidance. Mine was our old ward chapel. I could not begin to count the occasions when on a dark night at a late hour I would make my way to the stand of this building where I was blessed, confirmed, ordained, taught, and eventually called to preside. The chapel was dimly lighted by the streetlight in front; not a sound would be heard, no intruder to disturb. With my hand on the pulpit I would kneel and share with Him above my thoughts, my concerns, my problems."
Of course, these "sacred grove" moments do not duplicate what happened to the Prophet Joseph in the Sacred Grove. We don't enter into these devotional times expecting to see the Father and the Son any more than Joseph Smith did. But we can trust that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers; how He answers them, however, is up to Him. - Yoshihiko Kikuchi, “Opening the Heavens,” Liahona, August 2009
Spiritual Jogging
Scripture study strengthens us in several ways. First, information contained in the scriptures deepens and reinforces our knowledge and commitment to truth. Regular scripture study is as beneficial to our spiritual strength as regular exercise is to our physical strength. It is similar to "spiritual jogging." - Jack H. Goaslind, “Look to the Future with Optimism,” Ensign, April 1997