Can I know the truth?
Personal Response by Karen Merkley
You can know the truth for yourself. It is possible. It is more than possible. We were born to know our purpose and to live for it.
While there is a crisis of knowing in our day, truth is in fact knowable, and we have an inborn capacity to know and recognize the truth. That knowledge is discernible, and it is real and absolute. All knowledge is not, as many claim in our day, just a social construct or a relative idea, equal to every other. Truth matters. Truth exists. So you are on the right path if you desire in your mind and heart to know it. It comes to us through the voice of the Spirit, God’s voice to us, His children.
As we desire to know what is true, we search for it by reading, thinking, pondering what we can find that pertains to that truth. We are enlightened in the process through the light of Jesus Christ, which brings understanding to us. We can recognize that burst of light as we connect ideas and thoughts in a way that exceeds our own ability and as we see that we feel and know has come to us from an outside source of revelation in a language we understand and that penetrates us in an unmistakably clear way. As we act on whatever we learn, we are guided further to greater light.
If we desire to know if something is true, we can simply go to God in prayer, after having studied out the matter in our mind. We can kneel and talk candidly with our Father about our desire to know, the tentative conclusion we’ve formed about what we’ve read and studied, and then ask Him to confirm or refute the truthfulness of that matter. The Lord himself has outlined the pattern for us in Doctrine and Covenants, modern revelation given to us through the prophet Joseph Smith. In that book of scripture, the Lord indicates that after we have gone to Him in prayerful conversation, He will answer us. If what we are asking is correct, He will cause our “bosom to burn,” that is, He will give us a feeling of rightness within, a feeling that is recognizable and that grows as we continue to think on the response we’ve been given. If, on the other hand, what we are asking is incorrect, the Lord indicates that we will feel a “stupor of thought” which causes us to forget or not be able to dwell on the original conclusion we presented without confusion or lack of clarity. We can know in our mind and in our heart—through both witnesses—that an idea or course of action is true or false, right or wrong (Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-9).
I testify to you that this is the pattern of the Lord. As I’ve applied this in my life, I’ve felt His guiding hand directing me in work, home, and service. We don’t have to worry about our inability to hear Him as much as our willingness to hear the Lord’s promptings and answers. He can reveal His will to us. He knows perfectly well how to reach us. If we ask Him to make it clear to us, if we humbly acknowledge that we are new to the process, He will respond generously. For he has said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not” (James 1: 5).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, apostle of the Lord, spoke specifically about knowing the truth or gaining a personal testimony in his recent address at the 178th General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (See below).
Additional Resources:
Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference broadcast transcript, forthcoming, April, 2008 at www.lds.org.
Tags: 178th General Conference, Dallin H. Oaks, decisions, know truth, purpose of life, truth, wisdom
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Faith, Jesus Christ, Modern Scripture, Mormon Beliefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.