What Is True?

When you are flooded with conflicting messages and instructions, faith it ‘til you make it.

Discerning truth can be difficult. Years ago, Elder Bruce R. McConkie shared some valuable insights that are just as relevant today as they were then. In his Brigham Young University devotional discourse “The Seven Deadly Heresies,” he addresses one of the biggest issues facing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today: what is true? This question applies not only to gospel principles, but also to many political and social issues.

It seems as though no matter what we do, we will be condemned for our actions. We live in a world where a thousand voices urge us to stand for a particular movement, or to reject a particular political agenda, or to contribute to groups whose purported purposes are to make the world a better place. So, if people will condemn us no matter what we do, how should we proceed? Let our pursuits be focused on truth.

Pursuing truth is difficult, but Elder McConkie offers these three insights to make it easier:

1. It is best to turn to God for instruction. Turning to other sources is good, but God knows best. Elder McConkie writes, “Our sole concern in seeking truth should be to learn and believe what the Lord knows and believes.” 
2. Keeping the commandments will yield greater insights in life’s pursuits. As Elder McConkie observes, “Knowledge is gained through obedience.”
3. If we study God’s will in scripture and in deed, “we will soon obtain for ourselves the witness of the Spirit that we are pursuing a course that is pleasing to the Lord, and this knowledge will have a cleansing and sanctifying and edifying influence upon us.” Learning to be like the Savior will lead to confirmation of the truthfulness of our inquiries.

We’ve been told by President Nelson to take our vitamins (an inspired comment offered shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began) and to come closer to Christ by keeping his commandments. I do not always understand why I need to keep certain commandments, but I know that if I keep them, the Lord will bless me. The easiest two commandments upon which all the others are built are these: love God, and love others. When we focus on these basics and seek to understand after we begin, the Lord will enlighten our minds, especially in discerning truth.

Discover more about truth in Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s talk “The Seven Deadly Heresies.”

Source: BYU Speeches

—Kyme Lambson, Latter-day Saint Insights

FEATURE IMAGE BY ANDREA PIACQUADIO

Find more insights

Hear what the prophet has to say about truth and knowledge by reading President Russell M. Nelson’s talk “Pure Truth, Pure Doctrine, and Pure Revelation.”