Elder José A. Teixeira, General Authority Seventy and member of the Presidency of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered Tuesday’s devotional address. He spoke about leading a spiritually minded life.
The past year has been full of changes and an uprooting of normalcy. The pandemic has affected everyone, and members of the BYU community are no exception. Elder Teixeira emphasized that one of the major blessings of being a member of the Church is access to an increased knowledge of what to do in troubled times.
“I personally cannot think of a more sublime blessing than having the constant companionship and guidance of the Holy Ghost and being able to receive comfort, peace and direction from Him in our lives,” he said.
Elder Teixeira offered four suggestions on how we can live a spiritually minded life and have more abundant guidance from the Holy Ghost.
1. Be in tune with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
“When we are in harmony with Heavenly Father, we have the companionship of His Spirit; as we place that harmony as a priority in our lives, we draw near unto Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and not unto the world,” he said.
2. Love God.
“In this life, we can feel the love of God with the companionship of His Spirit,” Elder Teixeira said. “When we do the will of our Father in Heaven and strive to stay on the path that leads us to Him, the Holy Ghost can guide us.”
3. Understand that the purpose of the sacrament is to remember the Savior and what He did for us.
“We endeavor to take the sacrament every week because we want to preserve and nurture our spirituality,” he said.
4. Recognize spiritual things.
“As we seek to learn and follow the promptings of the Spirit, we can more easily distinguish things of God from things of the world,” he said.
Elder Teixeira shared a story about his granddaughter, Annie. When she was 4 years old, she was learning to ride her bicycle and her mom was impressed with how quickly she caught on to the idea. While they were riding, Annie said, “I just hold on, Mom, and keep pedaling!”
Elder Teixeira compared this story to living a spiritually mindful life.
“I suggest focusing on what really matters,” he said. “In doing so, you will see that strengthening our spirituality and becoming a spiritually minded person, though it requires effort and diligence, can be simple. Hold on and keep pedaling!”
Next Forum: Dambisa Moyo, macroeconomist
Dr. Moyo, a macroeconomist and author, will deliver the forum address on Tuesday, February 23, at 11:05 a.m.
Dr Moyo's remarks will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org, KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYUradio 107.9 FM, and SiriusXM 143.
