Nourished by the Good Word of God

How can we nourish those we serve?

• Preach my gospel

My father taught us that when we wanted to catch one of our horses to ride, all we had to do was to put a handful of grain into a bucket and shake it for several seconds. It didn’t matter if the horses were in a corral or a large field; they would come on the run to eat the grain.

. . . when we didn’t want to take the time to get the grain from the barn, we would put dirt in the bucket and shake it, attempting to trick the horses into thinking that we had grain for them to eat. When they discovered our deception, some of the horses stayed, but others would run away . . .

I learned as a young man that grain was more appealing to our horses than a dirt-filled bucket, I also learned that grain was more nourishing than hay, that hay was more nourishing than straw, and that it was possible to feed a horse without nourishing him. As teachers and leaders, it is vital that we nourish those we teach and lead by focusing on the fundamental doctrines, principles, and applications emphasized in the scriptures and the words of our latter-day prophets instead of spending precious time on subjects and sources of lesser importance.

Section 50 includes several vital keys to providing nourishment for those we teach and those we lead.

• The first key is found in the Savior’s admonition to “preach my gospel” (D&C 50:14)
• A second key is “to preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth” (D&C 50:14 emphasis mine)

Elder David A. Bednar asked the following question: “What are we learning that has not been said?” He then explained that in addition to receiving the counsel that had been given by those who had spoken or who would yet speak, we should also carefully listen for and record the unspoken impressions given by the Holy Ghost.

President Gordon B. Hinckley: “We must . . . get our teachers to speak out of their hearts rather than out of their books, to communicate their love for the Lord and this precious work, and somehow it will catch fire in the hearts of those they teach.”(Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 619-20)

The Lord’s words in section 50 of the Doctrine and Covenants also provide an inspired standard to evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching, leading, and learning. “Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.”(D&C 50:22)