Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge ~ Part One

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening,

this post should take three to five minutes to read from start to finish.

How do you acquire spiritual knowledge throughout your life? What is your definition and understanding of the word, "knowledge?" What does "knowledge" means to a immediate family member? What does "knowledge" 

means to a friend? 

This post focuses on August 1993 BYU (as known as Brigham Young University) Devotional, and it is called "Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge" by Elder Richard G. Scott. This post is part one.  I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new

while you are reading through this post. 

Elder Scott has mentioned the following;

"... I have chosen to concentrate on the subject “acquiring spiritual knowledge,” although the thoughts expressed have relevance to the acquisition of all worthy knowledge. One may ask, “Why center on spiritual knowledge?” President Kimball gave this answer: Spiritual learning takes precedence. The secular without the foundation of

the spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow. Do not be deceived! One need not choose between the two ... for there is opportunity to get both simultaneously; 

... Secular knowledge, important as it may be, can never save a soul nor open the celestial kingdom nor create a world nor make a man a god, but it can be most helpful to that man who, placing first things first, has found the

way to eternal life and who can now bring into play all knowledge to be his tool and servant. [TSWK, p. 390]

President J. Reuben Clark observed: There is spiritual learning just as there is material learning, and the one without the other is not complete; yet, speaking for myself, if I could have only one sort of learning, that which
I would take would be the learning of the spirit, because in the hereafter I shall have opportunity in the eternities which are to come to get the other, and without spiritual learning here ... [CR, April 1934, p. 94]

"Spiritual knowledge is fruitful only when it is applied."
- Shri Radhe Maa.

President Gordon B. Hinckley stated: 

This restored gospel brings not only spiritual strength, but also intellectual curiosity and growth. Truth is truth. 

There is no clearly defined line of demarcation between the spiritual and the intellectual when the intellectual is cultivated and pursued in balance with the pursuit of spiritual knowledge and strength. 

... Your presence here indicates that you understand and follow that admonition of the Lord. ... I commend you for having the interest in educational advancement. 

... Analogies with physical light help us understand the power of spiritual light. A bulb illuminated in a dark room overpowers darkness. Yet if the darkness is too intense, it can overpower light, as with a bulb plunged into a bucket of black printer’s ink. 

Spiritual light overcomes the darkness of ignorance and disbelief. When transgression severely clouds a life, the focused spiritual truths of repentance cut the blackness as a laser penetrates the darkest ink. Why must one, in humility, earnestly seek divine light? Does it really require that much effort? 

... Brigham Young paid the price of learning by carefully listening to the Prophet Joseph Smith and striving to understand in context everything that was taught by word, example, or the Spirit. The resulting tutoring has blessed generations. It conditioned Brigham Young to learn additional truths and to share far more than he had received personally from Joseph Smith.

In my judgment, so much effort and personal investment is required to gain and use worthwhile knowledge that one cannot sample from every fascinating area of life but must select carefully the few vital areas where focused energy can be applied to bless our lives and those we serve. My personal experience confirms that to gain knowledge of great worth requires extraordinary effort through personal involvement. This is particularly true when our desire is to gain spiritual knowledge. President Kimball said it this way:

The treasures of both secular and spiritual knowledge are hidden ones but hidden from those who do not properly search and strive to find them. . . . Spiritual knowledge is not available merely for the asking; even prayers are not enough. It takes persistence and dedication of one’s life. The knowledge of things in secular life are of time and are limited; the knowledge of the infinite truths are of time and eternity. Of all treasures of knowledge, the most vital is the knowledge of God: his existence, powers, love, and promises. [TSWK, pp. 389–90]

Why is humility essential to the acquiring of spiritual knowledge? Humility permits us to be taught from on high through the Spirit, or to be taught from sources whose origin was inspiration from the Lord, such as the scriptures. The seeds of personal understanding and growth germinate and flourish in the fertile soil of humility. Their fruit is spiritual knowledge to guide us here and in the hereafter. A proud individual cannot know the things of the Spirit."

Stay Tuned until next time.