Your Knowledge is Perfect in that thing...

Recently we returned from a family trip. As often happens, when we arrived home, I was blessed to hear the same lesson in Relief Society that I had heard the week before. This particular lesson had brought some thoughts to my mind, and because of the repeat lesson, those same thoughts came twice, only the second time with more clarification. We were discussing the last chapter in The "Teachings of Presidents of the Church" manual regarding the teachings of Ezra Taft Benson.  The topic was, "A Christ-Centered Life". The teacher was reading the scripture 2 Peter 1:5-7 which says, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge..." I didn't listen to the rest because the words I had just heard struck me.  Other times I had heard these as a list of qualities that were important for us each to gain, but this particular time, I saw them as steps, purposefully listed in an order, that if followed would allow us to gain each one. Each attribute seemed to be built upon the foundation of the one before.  Often we talk about knowledge and the importance of learning all we can, both spiritual and secular. These particular Sundays this "knowledge" being discussed, seemed to be talking about "knowledge" as a certainty of gospel things,as opposed to learning in general. The connection started to come together in my mind that to truly "know" and come to a certainty about gospel truths I needed to do these things in order. I needed to start with faith; I needed to first believe. As it says in Alma chapter 32, we need to plant the seed in our hearts to find out whether or not something is true.  Alma 32:26 says, "ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge". We must first "give place for a portion" of Gods words.

Virtue became the next step and I pondered how exactly it fit in. I saw the place of virtue as us choosing to become more like God, especially in our thoughts. Us trusting that He is there as well as purifying our thoughts and actions so that the Spirit can speak and testify to us. I again thought about Alma 32 and what we are taught there.  In chapter 32:38 Alma continues with, "if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord". This verified that we needed to be in a place that we could feel and understand the Spirit if we wanted to increase in knowledge. To hear and understand the spirit, our lives must be filled with virtue. It became clear to me that sometimes I am not given the knowledge I seek because I am missing virtue as one of the important steps to receiving that knowledge.    

The next step is knowledge.  My mind again turned to a scripture in Alma where it says, "yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing".  Knowledge, true gospel knowledge, although it does take work on our part, comes, I believe from these scriptures, as a natural bi-product of our faith and virtue.  As Alma teaches, we first need faith, and then we need to be open to the Spirit (or have virtue), and then that knowledge will come.  Not perfect in all parts of the gospel, but our "knowledge is perfect in that thing" in which we exercised our faith.  What a blessing that is.  There are so many things that I can look back on in my life and I know for a certainty. I know for certain because I have seen the evidence and felt the Spirit testify to me in ways I cannot deny. There are other things that I do not yet know, but I trust that as I move forward in this same way and better align my life with God, that a knowledge of those things will come.  It doesn't really talk about knowledge anymore in that chapter of Alma, but I see the tree as perhaps a compilation of all of our knowledge eventually becoming perfected. In 2 Peter 1:8, right after it finished listing those attributes, it says, "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." Even though Alma doesn't mention knowledge again, I love that this scripture in Peter takes it all right back to Alma's analogy. If we make these attributes a part of our lives, then we will not be "unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord".  What a beautiful promise!

As I looked back to 2 Peter and read through the rest of the list, it struck me that charity is listed last. I have been blessed at times in my life with some of these attributes without much work on my part. Other times, I have had to work hard to have those blessings in my life, especially charity. I now know what things I can do, and what steps I can take to help me get there.