Ava
Elders, would you agree that feelings are
not always a sure indication of truth?
Elder Smith
I know that before my mission,
I had strong feelings that I was to marry a certain girl.
I was sure we were in love.
Turns out, she was more interested in my best
friend.
Now, she’s married to him.
Ava
Sorry about that, Elder.
What did you learn from that experience?
Elder Young
Not to fall in love.
Elder Smith
No.
I learned that you can’t always trust your
feelings and emotions.
Ava
That’s right.
No matter how deeply felt, our emotions can
end up betraying us.
Falling “madly” in love with someone doesn’t
necessarily mean that person is right for us.
Certainly, in the moment it feels that way.
But since falling in love can be more emotional
than rational, we need to be extremely careful
about making an immediate commitment.
Our falling in love may turn out in the long
run to be nothing more than infatuation.
Elder Young
That makes sense.
Ava
You see how some people think they can trust their beliefs
in just about anything, simply
because they feel strongly about them.
Take for example – the Pharisees in the
Bible.
Jesus pointed out to them that they were believing
in a lie (John 8:43-47).
And, while sincerely believing they were right
- their false beliefs led those Pharisees
to call for the death the Son of God.
Elder Smith
You’re saying then, that our convictions
– no matter how strong – are insufficient
for determining what is ultimately true?
Ava
Our thoughts, our feelings, and our desires,
are very important.
But we should not place sole reliance on subjective
means to determine what is true.
Jesus teaches us that to determine truth we
must ABIDE in HIS WORD.
This is, why Christians love the Bible and
are eager to submit our feelings and beliefs
to God’s Word … not the other way around.
Elder Smith
We get the point – feelings are not always truth.
Ava
And relating that to the Book of Mormon which
Joseph Smith said was the “most correct
of any book on earth” - we have come to
discover it has had over 3,913 changes.
You have asked me to pray about the Book of
Mormon to know that it is true.
But rather than relying on a good feeling
to tell me it’s true – I only need to
read it to see the apparent contradictions,
anachronisms, plagiarisms, and lack of physical evidence –
to know that logically and scripturally
it cannot be true.
You see, Elders, feelings are not a reliable
guide to knowing truth about spiritual matters.
The Bible frequently tells us to study diligently
and meditate on God’s word.
People go into error, not because they lack
an emotional experience, but because they
lack knowledge of the Scriptures.
Elder Young
The Bible points out that we should pray for
wisdom and knowledge (James 1:5-8).
Ava
Yes, it does say to pray for wisdom and knowledge
but, that is different than praying for a
feeling or a “burning in the bosom”.
The prayer for wisdom and knowledge is answered
when we study God’s word – The Bible.
To ask God to tell us right from wrong by
a feeling, would be an unscriptural prayer.
By trusting in feelings, we show a lack of
respect for what God has ALREADY told us in
His Word.
Elder Smith
Then the bottom line is - our MINDS should
govern our emotions and feelings.
Elder Young
And maybe next time you’ll fall in love
with the right girl.
