Strengthening Your Spiritual Life Through Scripture Study: Insights and Practical Tips - Episode 2

Ever feel like life’s demands pull you away from your spiritual journey? Join me, Todd Andrewsen, on "Your Spirit by Design," where we explore how to keep your spirituality alive even when regular church attendance isn’t possible. Drawing from my own experiences over the past several months, I share how scripture study and prayer have been essential in maintaining a closer relationship with Heavenly Father. I cover such topics and rule as —study diligently, choose carefully, pray fervently, and act wisely—I delve into the transformative power of engaging with holy texts and understanding their historical contexts. By looking at figures like Captain Moroni, I illustrate how we can strive to live gospel-centered lives full of faith and charity, despite our shared human imperfections.

Discover the profound impact that regular scripture study can have on your personal and spiritual well-being. Listen as I discuss how consistent scripture reading can strengthen your relationship with God and improve your ability to handle life's stresses and enhanced your capacity to receive personal revelation. Offering practical insights and methods to incorporate scripture study into your daily routines, this episode is packed with valuable tools for spiritual growth and connection. Tune in to "Your Spirit by Design" with Todd Andrewsen for more ways to design and enrich your spiritual life.

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Chapters

• 0:12 Improving Spirituality Through Scripture Study
• 17:52 Enhancing Relationships Through Scripture Study

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

What can you do when you can't make it to church, you have to work on Sundays, or you just want to improve your physical, your spiritual life? This is your Spirit by Design, with Todd Andrewson. You see, I chose this topic, this theme, because the last six months, eight months, I have been having to work seven out of seven Sundays and I don't want to lose the spirituality, the closeness that I have with my Heavenly Father, and that can happen when you're not taking the time to improve yourself and your connection with deity, with your Heavenly Father. So because of this, I've niched down the focus of my original Todd Talks, as I talked about in last episode, into this subject your Spirit by Design. And the reason I use the by design is because this is your life. I'm giving you ideas, I'm giving you tools which you can use, but this is up to you to design the life that you desire. That was the whole purpose of Todd Talks. It was design your best life, your best life. So, with your Spirit by Design, I'm talking about how you can design the relationship you have with your Heavenly Father and improve your spirituality through different techniques, tips and things that work. So for today's episode last week I know I talked about prayer, today's episode. I'm looking into a different subject and that is scripture.

Speaker 1: 2:20

Do you study your scriptures? Do you read your holy books? Do you read the Bible? In the case of Mormons, do you read the Book of Mormon? Do you listen to the talks given by the authorities of the church? This is the question, because the Lord gave us scripture in order to know how to properly worship him, how to know what he wants from us. Now, the scriptures were written by men based on the words that were given to the prophets of old, and it is accepted that God spoke through revelation to early prophets and they wrote these things down. Now we have the opportunity to have those. They were kept through millennia by scholars, translating, transcribing, so that we could have them today. Of Christ, we have the words which were given to Moses and Noah. We know the history of what was told to us by God about what he wants us to do. Now, how can this help you? How can these scriptures help you to improve your spiritual life today? Help you to improve your spiritual life today. I have found that you can get closer to God by reading the scriptures and praying than through any other method. We talk to God through prayer and quite often he talks to us through scripture. I also believe he talks to us and helps us through intervention of other people, but that's a topic for another day.

Speaker 1: 4:34

I wanted to talk about the scriptures today and the reason behind it. Or I was reading a talk by President Thomas S Monson from 1996, where a young woman asked him what can I do to ensure my eternal joy? And he offered four suggestions Study diligently, choose carefully, pray fervently and act wisely. Now, in last week's episode I talked about praying fervently and acting wisely, because you need to act on the revelation, the personal revelation that you get. The more you act on it, the more you will receive. But in order to truly know and understand the will of God for you, you need to study, study diligently. What that means is the Holy Scriptures are a guide in our life. We should become acquainted with what those scriptures teach. There is history and background. Behind all of the parables that Jesus used were historical facts at the time that made it more likely for them to understand the story that was being told. So in studying the scriptures and studying history, historical references, we can actually gain a better appreciation for what the knowledge is that we're trying to receive.

Speaker 1: 6:34

The Apostle Paul counseled his young friend Timothy let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. How do we do this? How do we set an example of the believers, of the believers? I was talking yesterday, interestingly enough, on a flight with one of our flight attendants about different. On one hand, they they are pious and try to set an example of whatever article, whatever thing it was that they're espousing, and and, on the other hand, could be extremely judgmental, rude, mean, treat people the wrong way if they're different. And so what can we learn here?

Speaker 1: 7:59

Being an example doesn't mean we're going to be perfect, but it means that we're striving to live a gospel-centered life. Now, reading the scriptures brings that gospel into your heart, into your mind. Into your heart, into your mind. It allows you to recognize when you might be stepping in the wrong path or being a hypocrite. I know we're not going to be perfect. We are going to make mistakes. Being a Christian, being a believer, does not mean that you are better than anybody. That's probably the key message that I want to get out with this. Just because we're striving to do better does not mean that we are better than anybody else. We're all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

Speaker 1: 9:07

As Paul taught, we are asked to be examples. You know, last week I talked about Captain Moroni and I love talking about Captain Moroni because of who he is and what he represented, his example. In Moroni, because of who he is and what he represented, his example, we read about him that he was a strong and a mighty man. He was a man of perfect understanding, yea. A man that did not delight in bloodshed. A man whose soul did join the liberty and the freedom of his country and his brethren from bondage and slavery. Yea. A man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people. A man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his god for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people. A man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety is of people, of his people, yea. And he was a man who was firm in the faith of christ and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights in his country religion, even to the loss of his own blood. That kind of example. That is the example that we should strive for and that is the kind of information, the stories that we can glean from the scriptures that can help us in our daily lives. Think about it Moroni had sworn an oath to defend his land, his family, his religion and freedom, even unto the shedding of his own blood. He was a man of perfect understanding. He didn't just go blindly off of what others told him, but he studied diligently.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Those of us that are striving to be better, to grow and improve our spirituality, need to become men and women of sound understanding, of perfect understanding. How do we do that? We do that through studying the scriptures. My kids were always surprised at how many stories and how many gospel topics I knew, but when I was young especially, I read the scriptures cover to cover. I read the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, doctrine and Covenants. I am a reader and in reading we gain knowledge.

Speaker 1: 11:37

When you study and make it a habit to study daily let's go back to our topic of last week when we pray, god will put words in our minds sometimes about things we should do. If we are studying the scriptures, we will be able to find and hear the words from the scriptures in our mind, giving us ideas of things, what we should do. We may remember a parable that Jesus talked that talks about the situation that we are in. We may remember a battle that the Israelites or the Nephites went through and how they handled certain situations. There are so many stories that can influence our life if we let them. And the more that we learn, the more we study, the more that we are focusing our eyes and our life on the Savior, because that is the whole purpose of the scriptures is to guide us towards knowledge of and understanding of our Savior, jesus Christ.

Speaker 1: 12:58

When you don't have the opportunity to go to church, when you don't have the opportunity to meet with other people, you can study. There is truth out there. The more you study it, the more you can find the kernels of truth. And those kernels of truth will grow in your mind like a mustard seed. Even if you exercise just a particle of faith, it can grow. Now, a mustard seed is the tiniest of seeds that grows into a massive plant. So it can be with your faith and your spirituality, even if you have but the desire to improve your spirituality and your relationship with God. Let that desire grow in you.

Speaker 1: 14:08

Study the scriptures, pray. These are the things that will help you when you're off on your own. These are the things that will strengthen your testimony and help you to learn to listen for the answers and for the discussions Heavenly Father wants to have with you, to guide you to find your path and your purpose in life. Wouldn't it be sad to go through this life and not have a purpose? One of the things I was just looking at and reading it said that contemplating our earthly light, could not we well consider Tevye from the Fiddler on the Roof Tevye's statement and respond here? Each one of you knows who she is and what God expects her to become, or who he is and what God expects him to become.

Speaker 1: 15:14

Study diligently so that you can know the will of God, so that you can know the will of God. That's what this is all about. Studying diligently allows you to know more fully the will of God for you. And why is that? Because your intuition, personal revelation, comes from your relationship with God. If you strengthen it, you will be able to receive more and know the purpose of your life and how to work towards it. If you don't, if you just glide through life figuring oh all will be well, you know, you could end up turned to salt like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Speaker 1: 16:10

I remember many years ago I had a religion teacher that said that we are all on a ladder. We are either climbing up towards perfection or climbing down away from it, but we never are staying in one place. We're either moving forward or we're moving back, and I found that to be true In my 50 years of life. I have found that to be true. We are either progressing and getting better, or we're moving back and not and losing that light that we had, losing that knowledge that we had. So it's your choice.

Speaker 1: 17:04

My recommendation if you have found yourself in a position, a job, where you cannot get to church all the time, or you feel that you just want to grow spiritually aside from praying every day, search the scriptures, search the words of the prophets, study the truths that you can glean. Study the truths that you can glean and then put them into practice. Information not acted upon, as always, is worthless. So act. That's the challenge. Study your scriptures, scriptures and act.

Speaker 1: 17:52

I need to work on my scripture study too. I don't do it as often as I should. But in prepping for this this podcast I've started reading and I recognize, just as I have many times in the past, that it improves my relationship when I do. It improves my ability to handle stresses in life when I do. It improves my ability to receive personal revelation when I do. And these have been your options and your one more method that you can put in your arsenal to improve your relationship with God. Love you. Hope you take my words to heart and put it into practice and, as always, keep coming back each week for more ways to design your spirit life. This is your Spirit by Design, with Todd Andrewson, thank you.