Day 359

  • Principle: “Lay Hold upon Every Good Thing” both inside and out.

  • Book of Mormon Reading: Moroni 7:20 - 7:34

    • Scan through these verses looking for the blessings the Lord provides so that you can come unto Him and “lay hold upon every good thing"

  • Michaelene P. Grassli siad:

    •  “We can train our spiritual senses the same way so that we can recognize our Heavenly Father’s will for us. We train our spiritual senses by doing good things. We are taught to ‘search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.’ (Moro. 7:19.)” (“Follow Him,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, 93).

  • Good things come externally as well as internally.  You have been blessed with many gifts that you can use to the benefit of yourself and others.

  • Joseph F. Smith taught:

    • “Every son and every daughter of God has received some talent, and each will be held to strict account for the use or misuse to which it is put” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 370). A talent is one kind of stewardship (responsibility in the kingdom of God). The parable of the talents tells us that when we serve well in our stewardship, we will be given greater responsibilities. If we do not serve well, our stewardship will eventually be taken from us. (See Matthew 25:14–30.)

  • The Gospel Principles manual gives a list of six things you can do to better develop your talents.

    • First, we must discover our talents. We should evaluate ourselves to find our strengths and abilities. Our family and friends can help us do this. We should also ask our Heavenly Father to help us learn about our talents.

    • Second, we must be willing to spend the time and effort to develop the talent we are seeking.

    • Third, we must have faith that our Heavenly Father will help us, and we must have faith in ourselves.

    • Fourth, we must learn the skills necessary for us to develop our talents. We might do this by taking a class, asking a friend to teach us, or reading a book.

    • Fifth, we must practice using our talent. Every talent takes effort and work to develop. The mastery of a talent must be earned.

    • Sixth, we must share our talent with others. It is by our using our talents that they grow (see Matthew 25:29).
      All of these steps are easier if we pray and seek the Lord’s help. He wants us to develop our talents, and He will help us.

  • Additional Study:

    • Michaelene P. Grassli, “Follow Him”, October 1989

    • Now Thank We All Our God, Hymns No. 95

    • I Think the World Is Glorious, Children’s Songbook No. 230