Speaking of Principles
By C.S. Bezas

Elder Richard G. Scott spoke the following profound words in General Conference thirteen years ago:

As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles. Carefully separate them from the detail used to explain them (Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86).

Search for Principles.

How essential principle-finding is, not just for ourselves but also for our young people today. The world shouts belligerently, filling their ears with all kinds of garbage.  How will the youth of today sort through the gunk to find that which is true?

True principles are timeless. They apply in all scenarios, all countries, for all people. They clarify truth and they clarify righteous choices. They are truth. And the most profound place to locate the Lord's principles is…? In the scriptures.

How essential we give our young men and women ample time in the scriptures while we are with them, so they can testify they've heard the Lord's voice and can apply His teachings clearly and confidently in their lives.

Elder Boyd K. Packer testified of the urgency and "why" of principles and doctrine. He said:

So the question is: how clearly do we teach our youth to find these true doctrines? We will not always be present in their lives (even if we are their parents).

The fastest and most effective way to give our youth this skill is to get them into the scriptures. We want to help these kids learn to deduce, on their own, true principles from their scriptural pages. As Elder Scott and Elder Packer so succinctly taught, our students need these principles to guide them every day.

Principles are perfectly-portable-packages-of-truth, and they will serve as endless generators of hope and spiritual guidance if our youth can find them, understand them, and apply them. Principles will help our young men and women ascertain God's safer paths given them in today's world and courageously stick to those paths.

To learn to do this, though, takes time AND it takes practice. We, as these kids' parents, teachers, and youth leaders need to provide that time and practice.

One of the seminary students in my class recently provided a perfect example of this for the rest of the class — without my involvement! During the class devotional she gave, she shared having found something exciting in her scripture study the night before.

During the devotional, she told of feeling overburdened currently in her life and struggling to forgive others. Then she shared how she'd read the previous night in D&C 64 and she read us verse 9 from that chapter. She said she read it twice because it struck her so about forgiving. Then as she moved through the chapter, she encountered vs. 33:

She shared during her devotional that these words uplifted her and strengthened her to continue in the good deeds she was trying to do in her life right then. I watched in amazement. This verse and its attending truth had powerfully struck her within the previous 24 hours and had become a guiding principle for her in her life.

I found this so exciting. She'd discovered this for herself, on her own during private scripture study! And what's even larger, she felt able to explain, share, and testify of the experience with us the very next day.

This, my friends, is the whole point, isn't it? The Spirit brought her to it, not me or any other person in her life. She had placed herself in the right place and time (studying her scriptures) and as a result, she was given/shown by the Spirit a principle she could use as a guiding factor in her life. As a result, she was the recipient of a great moment of truth. What a thing to celebrate.

The reality of all this is quite apparent: while we can bring our youth to the fountains of truth, only they can discover for themselves how powerful that truth really is and how simple it is to gain and apply it. And when these moments come, they quickly form a generator of energy and hope that carries these young women and men through the challenging times facing them.

Thus, during the precious moments we have with our youth, let's make sure to allow plenty of time where they can learn how to find these potent principles. If they experience the discussion of principle-finding and its importance in class, they will be far more able to discover its value on their own. The impact will be eternal.

We lead our youth to do this by:

• Spending time together in scripture study in class, rather than just talking about the scriptures. How else will the Spirit have a platform or foundation upon which to testify if our kids are not in the scriptures themselves, no matter the class or the event?
• Spending time following up with sharing, explaining, and testifying about any new insights they've discovered through the scriptures.
• Spending time journaling of the experience, so that they can record it for future moments of need, whether for their own need or that of their posterity. And in the recording, they demonstrate to the Lord they valued the experience — which often times prepares them for additional spiritual moments.

Oh, our potency as the parents, teachers, and leaders of these mighty youth. They've had so much placed on their shoulders. Surely we will give them that which will edify them most — the skill to find these perfectly-portable-packages-of-truth known as "principles," left for them by the Lord amongst the pages of these students’ own scriptures!

Happy teaching!

Visit your local LDS bookstore or go online to http://www.rosehaven.com to purchase C.S. Bezas’ new book, Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers. It has arrived just in time for Christmas giving!