Mysteries of God

Hello again! This week I will discuss Alma 12:10.

"And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full."

Here I will 1) explain what this verse means to me, 2) explain the principle in this passage, and 3) apply it to our own lives.

I love General Conference, and I like to prepare a list of questions that I hope to have answered. I always add on my list the question, "What would you have me improve?" And every year without fail I am prompted to increase my ability to receive personal revelation. To me, this verse encompasses all that I have been instructed to do. I need to soften my heart, rely on God, and only then will I receive the revelation that I desire. On top of that, however, is the idea that we only receive that which we can handle.

To further explain this principle, we can think back to the parable of the talents. Christ shares of a time when a master lends money to three servants - one gets ten, one gets five, and the final gets one talent. The master knew who was capable of what responsibilities, and when his theory was proven correct, he felt justified in pouring out the greater blessing on those who did well with what they were given. If we harden not our hearts, we will be better prepared to receive "ten talents" worth of the word, even until we know the mysteries of God in full.

In order to apply this to our own lives, we can evaluate our own heart-softness. Are we quick to look for faults? Do we often need to be humbled, rather than humbling ourselves? Are we willing to trust our church leaders even when what they say or do may not initially make sense? When we focus on having a soft heart and being receptive to personal revelation, we can have a greater capacity to know God's will and to be more sure in our testimonies.