In Oct. 1986, Boyd K. Packer said "The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."
I have struggled to really believe this quote in the past, when I would read relationship books with practical ideas and find those appear easier to implement than studying the gospel. For example, it seemed easier to work off a list of ways to show love to others than it is to simply "love one another."
While relationship books really can help, the belief that you can build a good relationship simply by crossing off to-do's on a list is more like treating a symptom than curing the cause.
The beginning of Boyd K. Packer's quote is often not quoted with the rest, but it's the most important part. It is "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior." If we REALLY understood true doctrine, then our hearts would be changed and we would be doing those things on the list for the right reasons.
Of course doing things for the wrong reasons isn't always wrong. It is never wrong to be kind or to do what is right. And the more we do them, the more we become them. It's just that we must truly understand that we are children of Heavenly Father, and as such, we have great worth. When we truly understand that, we have faith. Faith is an action word; when we have faith that we are children of Heavenly Father, we will act as he would want us to.
That's why it's so important to center our lives around faith-building activities. That's how our children will grow up to have faith and make the changes they know they need to.
Relationship books can really help with implementation ideas. But unless our hearts are changed and we have faith, it will be just going through the motions.
No comments:
Post a Comment