Principles and Doctrine

Hi friends,

I want to share what we were taught this week  which was the differences between principles and doctrines.

Principles

According to Richard G. Scott a principle is, "concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances".

When I think about what a principle is I think about the Sunday school classes we attend as adults. The gospel principles class is where we go to learn the basic fundamentals of the gospel. Some of the principles we learn about may be;

- Heavenly father
- The life of Jesus Christ and his role in our lives
- Repentance
- Prayer
- Baptism
- Service
- Obedience
- Honesty

There are many gospel principle, I know as we learn these principles of the gospel we will develop a good foundation for ourselves and our families. These are good blocks to build upon as we teach our children and as we try to become more Christ like.

Doctrine

Elder Boyd K. Packer taught; "from doctrine we learn principles of conduct, how to respond to problems of everyday living, even to failures, for they too are provided for in the doctrines."

I'm going to reference Sunday school once again, Gospel doctrine digs deeper into the gospel and teach us  many of the unchanging truths, eternal laws, and fundamental beliefs of the gospel. Some of these include;

- The Book of Mormon
- The great goodness of our God
- The Atonement and why it had to happen
- Plan of happiness
- How to achieve eternal life
- Why we need to come unto Christ

Some of the doctrines are hard for me to understand. I am not a "scriptorian" but I know as you and I do our part to learn the gospel doctrines our understanding will increase. Our minds will be opened with the help of the Holy Ghost and we will be able to comprehend things beyond our capacity.

Differences between good and evil

Hi again I am back with more to share from what I have been learning from the scriptures this week. I would like to share with you some stuff I found interesting in 2 Nephi 9:27-52. It tells us differences of things that subject us to the devil and things that subject us to Christ.

That which subjects us to the devil (2 Nephi 9:27-39)

- Someone who knows the truth and the commandments and obeys them not
- Hearken not unto the counsel of God
- The rich of the world who think they are better than the poor of the world because of their worldly possessions
- Those who do not listen or see the things of God
- Liars, murderers, those who commit whoredoms
- Those who worship idols
- Those who die in their sins and do not repent
- Being carnally minded

That which subjects us to Christ (2 Nephi 9:39-52)

- Spiritually mindedness
- Listen to the words of God
- Humble
- Prayerful
- Forsake and repent of our sins
- Having a pure mind
- Righteousness
- Being teachable
- Thankful

It seems to me the things of satan appeal more to the senses, Pornography, drugs, alcohol, money, worldly temptations, etc. Things of God appeal to the spirit, Love, kindness, charity, humility, serving others, loving one another, etc.

I have my struggles daily that I am working to overcome. I need to have the Lord on my side to rid myself of the temptations of satan. I am going to work this week on doing the things on the second list so I can be closer to the spirit. I need to be able to feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost at all times to keep me safe from harm. I know to do this I need to be living a righteous life because if I don't those prompting will get harder and harder to recognize.

This week I am going to do all I can to recognize the promptings of the spirit. I am going to avoid situations where I will give into to temptations, and if I happen to get in those situations I will try better to recognize them and remove myself from the situation.

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I have a strong testimony in most parts of the gospel and am working to strengthen my testimony in areas where it isn't as strong. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.