Wisdom to Know the Mind and Will Of God

 Wisdom is a spiritual gift. It is connected to discernment and includes pure intelligence and understanding. Wisdom gives us the ability to use correct knowledge in righteous ways—it is the proper application of knowledge (D&C 46:17-18). 

True wisdom is to know the mind and will of God and to make decisions based on that knowledge. In this way, we become more like our Savior and Father in Heaven. Wisdom includes judging righteously and being able to see things as they really are. (D&C 93:24)

In Mosiah 29 King Mosiah is convincing the people to choose judges over kings, verse 10 reads; And now let us be wise and look forward to these things and do that which will make for the peace of the people.

King Mosiah is asking the people to look forward and see how their decisions today might impact their future.

Verse 40 shows the trust and love the people had for King Mosiah, they had developed this love and trust because of his good works and fruit.

It reads; And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure.

We can see from this scripture how wise King Mosiah had been in separating service with gain and the connection between money (lucre) "which doth corrupt the soul" and bondage. Instead, because of his knowledge and wisdom in this, his people knew he loved them and they trusted him.

2 Nephi 26:30-31

30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish. 

31 But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.

D&C 25:10

And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better. 

Helaman 12:4-5

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world! 

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!

Elder Oaks in 2001

"...Jesus taught that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). Consequently, we should not lay up for ourselves “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal” (Matt. 6:19). In other words, the treasures of our hearts—our priorities—should not be what the scriptures call “riches [and] the vain things of this world” (Alma 39:14). The “vain things of [the] world” include every combination of that worldly quartet of property, pride, prominence, and power. As to all of these, the scriptures remind us that “you cannot carry them with you” (Alma 39:14). We should be seeking the kind of treasures the scriptures promise the faithful: “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19).

Back to Helaman, In 3: 36 we find that the exceedingly great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people was because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity in the land, but despite being surrounded by and even persecuted by these  members  who had set their hearts on the vain things of this world, the people were able to put the kingdom of God first in their lives.

Helaman 3:34-35

33 And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God— 

34 And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction. 

35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God. 

Loved these thoughts on this matter written by my friend Micah English;

 "King Solomon is a great example... We often talk of the tragedy that was "the fall of David", yet Solomon fell just as hard exactly for this reason- the allure and love of wealth and riches was too much for even the "wisest of us all- wisest there ever shall be", but yet we ALL feel like we could handle the riches properly and not build ourselves up and aggrandize our living standards... The Savior taught "it is easier for a camel to literally pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven" and Solomon the wisest of us all couldn't handle it... but yet we all seem to feel like "all is well in Zion! yea, Zion prospers!" I want to steer clear as far as possible, not because I think I'm "better than the wealthy", but because I know I am weak... I know I'm no Solomon, etc. so what chance would I have? Nah... I'm good thanks!" (August 2023)

In Alma 1 is another example of the members being persecuted over money 

20 Yea, they did persecute them, and afflict them with all manner of words, and this because of their humility; because they were not proud in their own eyes, and because they did impart the word of God, one with another, without money and without price.

Interesting to note their humility was because they were not proud and they were not proud because they did value serving God over money and did not confuse the two.

Alma 1 goes onto say

27 And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.

28 And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions.

 29 And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth. 

30 And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need. 

31 And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church.

These scriptures are teaching us what it means to have charity or the pure love of Christ. It is teaching us how we as members can overcome the temptations of the world and live the higher and holier laws of Jesus Christ.

Pres Nelson, our current Prophet has exhorted us much on this topic and I would like to share some of his counsel from Oct 2022.

"What does it mean to overcome the world? It means overcoming the temptation to care more about the things of this world than the things of God.

"Overcoming the world means growing to love God and His Beloved Son more than you love anyone or anything else."

"One crucial element of this gathering is preparing a people who are able, ready, and worthy to receive the Lord when He comes again, a people who have already chosen Jesus Christ over this fallen world, a people who rejoice in their agency to live the higher, holier laws of Jesus Christ."

"As we strive to live the higher laws of Jesus Christ, our hearts and our very natures begin to change."

"When you yoke yourself to Jesus Christ and do the spiritual work required to overcome the world, He, and He alone, does have the power to lift you above the pull of this world."

"And then he left us with this powerful blessing:

"With the power of the holy apostleship vested in me, I bless you in your quest to overcome this world. I bless you to increase your faith in Jesus Christ and learn better how to draw upon His power. I bless you to be able to discern truth from error. I bless you to care more about the things of God than the things of this world. I bless you to see the needs of those around you and strengthen those you love. Because Jesus Christ overcame this world, you can too."(Overcome the World and Find Rest, Oct 2022)

 I testify that the spiritual gift of wisdom is to know the mind and will of God and to think and act as He would. I know as we feast upon the Book of Mormon daily, obey our Prophets and  fast and pray for the Holy Ghost to be our guide that we will not be deceived by the temptations of the world. I pray that we may be wise like King Mosiah and the Nephites who chose love over lucre. I pray that we may always "look forward" relying on our Saviour to lift us above the pull of the world, that we might be as the people in Helaman, become firmer and firmer in our faith, purified and sanctified so we are able, ready and worthy to receive the Saviour when He comes again.