Over the past few years the entertainment world has been very confusing. What some critics (ie. movies/books) have exalted as great works in entertainment seemed undeniably repulsive or violent to any God-fearing person. Then those books and movies which were so inspiring and uplifting got the shaft. Not naming any names of books or movies, but I think we all know which ones I’m referring.
There is an interesting scripture in Isaiah (5:20) which says: “ Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Our society has it backwards. We are thrown confusing messages of what is evil which is really good and what is good which is really evil. We must decide for ourselves and there are several safeguards we can use to help ourselves recognize the difference between good and evil.
Throughout my life as a Christian, I have always been encouraged to read my scriptures at some time during the day. Every day. This has been a challenge for me. I read with my children as they were growing up to help keep them grounded but for my own personal study, it was difficult.
I was never really a good reader until late into my 30’s which was a challenge to follow through in my personal scripture study. I was raised in the 60’s where television started taking a hold of the younger generation and reading for me was boring.
But as I have discovered the glorious treasures in books, I have since gained a greater appreciation of those treasures found in scripture which has helped me to distinguish good for good and evil for evil. Not only that blessing but there are other blessings in taking the time to read a little every day even if it’s just one verse.
From a wonderful talk from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Devin Durrant spoke in a General Conference in October 2015 about an idea he came up with called “Ponderizing”. The idea was to take one scripture and read it, study it, memorize it and glean all the goodness from it.
We can choose how often to do this: every week or every day, or every couple of days or even every month, we choose one scripture to study. Whichever we are comfortable doing. This idea helps those who are afraid (or like I was) just didn’t feel comfortable reading the scriptures daily. We can start with one verse and think about that verse and relate it to our lives.
I now have graduated into a longer scripture study time and have found pockets of treasures throughout all four books of LDS Church scriptures which are the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. There are so many tidbits to learn from these books and especially wonderful blessings from the study of these scriptures.
Just recently in our Relief Society (women’s organization) lesson the topic of scripture stories came up and one of the women told the story of the two midwives which I had never heard. I couldn’t believe I had missed that story found in Exodus 1 where these two midwives commissioned by the new Pharoh to kill all the newborn males of the Israelites to prevent them from becoming too strong a nation.
Of course they couldn’t do that and when asked how these baby boys were being born anyway, they both gave the excuse that the Israelitish women were stronger than the Egyptian women and had their babies already by the time they arrived. Both women were blessed for such goodness.
There are probably more than three blessings of diligent scripture study but these are three that I have experienced.
Three Blessings of Diligent Scripture Study:
We feel happy and secure. Through our trials we can have this one strength which can carry us through. I feel so much better after reading the words of God and this helps me through many difficult times. If only I can remember to read every time I have a dark day which will help me find some much needed inspiration. I need to work on that.
Answers prayers. When I read and think about what I’m reading, answers come to me in what I have been dealing with in my life. I have opened my scriptures arbitrarily on many days and always find a verse that I can relate too or inspires me. That is really fun.
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Helps us to distinguish good from evil. This helps us to keep grounded on the most important aspects of our life in society and we become a compass for knowing what is truly good and what is truly evil. Moroni (from the Book of Mormon) said, “But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, everything which inviteth and enticeth to do good and to love God and to serve him is inspired of God.” (Moroni 7:13)
There are so many wonderful treasures hidden in the scriptures, we just have to find them.
Valerie Steimle has been writing as a family advocate for over 25 years. As a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she promotes Christian living in her writings and is the mother of nine children and grandmother to twelve. Mrs. Steimle authored six books and is a contributing writer to several online websites. To her, time is the most precious commodity we have and knows we should spend it wisely.
To read more of Valerie's work, visit her at her website, The Blessings of Family Life.
Thank you sister. These are helpful as I prepare for a talk about the blessings of scripture study
You are welcome. I’m glad my post was helpful.