Moroni 7:6

“For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that witch is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.”

What this scripture means to me is that we need to be honest in our dealing with God. We need to be honest and open with God in order for him to truly help us. If we do something we need to do it for the right reasons and because we truly want to change or know something. There needs to be a righteous purpose behind what we are doing or what we are asking for.

Living with real intent means understanding the why behind your endeavors and truly wanting to learn from God. Without real intent, God will not help us. By living with real intent, you will be able to see the bigger picture. Why are you going to church? Why are you reading the Book of Mormon? Why do temples matter? It is important that we understand the true meaning and intent behind our actions. It is equally important that they are real.

This is a principle that definitely applies to me in my life. I often do things because I know I should be doing them but do not have a full understanding of the “why” behind my actions. Doing things with real intent will lead to a greater appreciation and understanding for this great gospel and why God does the things he does. Acting and asking is easy to do but  they need to done with real intent in order to get the full effect.

3 Nephi 31:3

“For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.”

I really love this scripture because it really shows how much God wants us to understand his teachings. He delights in plainness and teaches us in our language so that we will understand what is being taught. He teaches us in such a way that we can get the most out of what is being taught. I think sometimes we make the scriptures harder to understand than they really are, we focus too much on the stuff that is not hugely significant.

In class, Brother Griffin focused a lot on the words language and understanding, two simple words that are a testament of how much God cares about the knowledge we gain from him. I have read this scripture numerous times before, but it wasn’t until Brother Griffin’s insight that they took on a whole new meaning. The point of God’s teachings are not to confuse us, it is to help us grow and become closer to him. He does this by teaching things plainly. In class, we talked about how it is important that we spend time focusing on what God has plainly revealed. We should not become distracted by innate, rare teachings that we are given little insight about. We should, instead, focus on learning all we can about the great and plain teachings that exist.

This concept is an important one that is worth understanding. If we understand this, we can become more efficient learners when it comes to the teachings of God and Christ. God loves us and wants us to come closer to him and understand his doctrines and principles. In order to successfully do this, he teaches us his plain truths in a way that we can individually understand them.

1 Nephi 20:4

"And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and they brow brass;"

In class this week we studied the chapters of Isaiah found in 1 Nephi. I think many of us can agree that Isaiah is difficult to process and understand. Often times, I read it just to say that I have and understood very little to nothing about what is actually being taught. As a result of class this week I have gained a much deeper respect and understanding for the words of Isaiah, I can see why it is a commandment that we diligently search his words. One particular scripture that we talked about was 1 Nephi 20:4. I really enjoyed this scripture and found its meaning to be powerful.

Initially, I was confused about what was being said, but upon further explanation, it was extremely profound. “Neck is an iron sinew, and they brow brass,” symbolizes an inability to look upward or bow. Meaning that they were not humble or compassionate and looked horizontally for help rather than vertically, or to God. God knew that they were looking to the wrong sources for help and treated them accordingly.

What can be learned from this scripture is to live in such a way that your neck is not like iron sinew and your brows are not like brass. We need to be humble enough to ask and look to the Lord when we need him. We can learn from the mistakes of the Israelites and be humble, compassionate, and not be afraid to look up rather than side to side.