“Chapter 16: The Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Gospel Fundamentals, 77
The Holy Ghost helps us to know and understand things that are true. How can we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?
The Holy Ghost Can Lead Us to the Truth
The Holy Ghost can help people before they have been baptized. He can tell a person the teachings of Jesus are true. Sometimes He tells us where to find the true Church of Jesus Christ. But the Holy Ghost will not stay with us until we have been baptized and have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost.
In the New Testament we read of a man named Cornelius. He was a man who had not been baptized. The Holy Ghost told him the teachings of Jesus were true. Cornelius was later baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Our Father in Heaven Has Given Us a Way to Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost
As we learn about our Father in Heaven’s plan for us, we want to repent of our sins and obey everything Jesus tells us to do. But we cannot do this without help. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to have help from the Holy Ghost at all times. We receive this gift soon after we have been baptized.
We must prepare in order to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We must believe in Jesus and try hard to do what He commands us. We must repent of our sins and be baptized.
After we are baptized, those who have the authority from our Father in Heaven place their hands on our head, give us the gift of the Holy Ghost, and make us official members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They also bless us.
Discussion
There are many ways in which the gift of the Holy Ghost can help us. He can bring us messages from Jesus. He can teach us many things about Jesus and our Father in Heaven.
He can help us know how to solve our problems. He can comfort us. He can help us overcome our sins. He can help us do right things.
The Holy Ghost can help us understand and love others. He can help us know how we can help them. He can help us understand Jesus’ teachings. He can help us know what to say to teach other people about our Father in Heaven and Jesus.
Discussion
We Must Repent of Our Sins to Have This Gift
Through the gift of the Holy Ghost we can become better persons and do good things. We can become more like our Father in Heaven. But we must always try to do good things, or the Holy Ghost will not stay with us. We must try to think good thoughts. We must try to follow Jesus’ teachings. When we do something wrong, we must repent. As we try to do all of these things, the Holy Ghost helps us.
Sometimes the Holy Ghost guides us by causing us to have a warm, peaceful feeling in our hearts. When we start to do something wrong, this happy feeling leaves us. Sometimes we may hear a voice in our minds speaking to us, telling us what to do or not to do. We must always be ready to listen and to obey what the Holy Ghost tells us, because the Holy Ghost always tells us what Jesus wants us to do, and only by obeying Jesus can we return to our Father in Heaven.
If we do not obey the Holy Ghost and if we begin to do wrong things, the Holy Ghost leaves us. He will not stay with us or help us if we do not do right things. But if we listen for His direction, the Holy Ghost will be with us constantly. He helps us become better people and prepare for life with our Father in Heaven.
Discussion
We Receive Other Special Blessings through the Holy Ghost
Some special blessings we receive through the Holy Ghost are called spiritual gifts. Jesus gives these gifts to members of His true Church whenever His Church is on the earth. He gives us these gifts through the power of the Holy Ghost. We need to understand these gifts so we can use them wisely.
The Gift of Speaking Other Languages
One gift helps people speak other languages. One of the reasons Jesus gives this gift to people is to help them teach the gospel to persons who speak other languages.
The Gift to Interpret Another Language
Another gift helps people who are being told about the gospel. The gift of interpreting other languages helps them understand a message from Jesus that is spoken in a language they do not know.
The Gift of Knowing That Jesus Is the Son of Our Father in Heaven
Another gift helps people know that Jesus is the Son of our Father in Heaven. The scriptures say that people can know that Jesus is the Savior only if the Holy Ghost helps them know it. This gift is a witness from the Holy Ghost that Jesus is truly the Son of our Father in Heaven and that He is the Savior of the world.
The Gift of Believing the Testimony of Others
The gift of believing the testimony of others helps people know whether the things someone says about Jesus are true. The Holy Ghost helps us recognize a true testimony and believe it.
The Gift of Faith
The gift of faith helps us obey the commandments of Jesus. Without faith we cannot receive any other spiritual gifts. Without faith we cannot return to our Father in Heaven. Many people have a strong faith in Jesus. One of the prophets in the Book of Mormon had such great faith in Jesus that Jesus appeared to him. The Prophet Joseph Smith had such a strong faith in Jesus Christ that our Father in Heaven and Jesus appeared to him.
The Gift of Translation
The gift of translation helps people translate the written words of our Father in Heaven and of Jesus and His followers from one language to another. The Prophet Joseph Smith had this gift when he translated the Book of Mormon. This gift helps the translator understand the correct meaning of the message and then translate it correctly.
The Gift of Knowledge
The gift of knowledge helps people understand the work of our Father in Heaven and Jesus. Our Father in Heaven has said we cannot return to Him if we do not know or understand the things He wants us to do. We must know the plan our Father in Heaven has given to us so we can return to Him.
Jesus has said the knowledge we obtain in this life will help us in the spirit world after we die. He wants us to know about His teachings and commandments, about heaven and earth, about things that have happened, and about things in our own countries and in other countries. He has said we must use this knowledge wisely. We should ask for the help of the Holy Ghost in seeking for knowledge.
The Gift of Wisdom
This gift helps people use in the proper way the knowledge our Father in Heaven gives them. We should use this gift to improve our lives and to teach and give wise counsel to others.
The Gift of Teaching
The gift of teaching helps people teach the gospel to others in a way so they will understand. We can have this gift only by having faith in Jesus and through study and prayer.
The Gift of Prophecy
The gift of prophecy helps people know and understand things that have happened in the past, things that are happening now, and things that will happen in the future. The prophets are given this gift, but we too can have it to guide us in our lives.
The Gift of Revelation*
The Holy Ghost reveals to people things that will help them. Each of us can receive revelation for our own good. But revelations for the whole Church are given only to the prophet. We cannot receive revelation for a person who is a leader for us in the Church. Everything the Holy Ghost reveals to us will agree with the other commandments and teachings of our Father in Heaven and Jesus.
The Gift of Healing
The gift of healing helps people who are sick get better. Some have the faith to be healed and others have the faith to heal other people.
The Gift of Doing Miracles
The gift of doing miracles is given to help people. A miracle is something our Father in Heaven does for us that is greater than we by ourselves have power to do. Jesus said in the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon that there would be miracles among those who believed in Him.
Satan Can Imitate These Spiritual Powers
Satan can cause things to happen that imitate the true spiritual gifts. He can make himself look almost like an angel. He can make wicked things appear to be good and right. He can make a false prophet appear to be a true prophet. He can perform miracles to deceive people. Sorcerers, mediums, fortune-tellers, and others like them receive what power they have from Satan and are not followers of Jesus. We should stay away from them.
Satan can make things appear to be so true that the only way we can know they are false is to ask our Father in Heaven. We will have an uncertain feeling, not a peaceful feeling, when Satan or his followers imitate the spiritual gifts. The gift of knowing when spiritual gifts are real and when they are Satan’s imitations is called the gift of discernment.
Discussion
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• What are the spiritual gifts?
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• How can we distinguish between the true spiritual gifts and Satan’s imitations?
We Should Work to Develop and Use the Gifts We Have
We can learn which gifts we have if we study, fast, and pray. We can use our gifts only when we obey the commandments of Jesus. Then we will want to use them to help others and to help to build up The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we do not develop and use our gifts, we will lose them.
Jesus has said we should not boast about the spiritual gifts with which we are blessed. We should not talk about them to people who would not consider them sacred. These gifts are given to us for our own good and for blessing other people. We must remember that these gifts are sacred. Jesus gives us these gifts through the Holy Ghost. He asks only that we thank Him and use these gifts as He wants them to be used.
Discussion
The Gift of the Holy Ghost Can Be Valuable to Us
We must always try to do good things and obey Jesus, or the influence of the Holy Ghost will not stay with us. We must try to think good thoughts. When we do something wrong, we must repent. We must try to understand the things the Holy Ghost tells us. We must follow the counsel He gives.
If we sincerely desire to obey Jesus, the gift of the Holy Ghost will bless our lives. It will help us have a happy life now and prepare for life with our Father in Heaven.
Discussion
References
The Holy Ghost Can Lead Us to the Truth
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• 2 Nephi 32:5; Moroni 10:5–7 (The Holy Ghost tells us whether something is true.)
Our Father in Heaven Has Given Us a Way to Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost
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• Acts 10:44–48; 2 Nephi 31:17–18 (The gift of the Holy Ghost is given after baptism.)
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• Moroni 8:25–26 (We can receive the Holy Ghost.)
We Must Repent of Our Sins to Have This Gift
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• Mosiah 2:36 (When we disobey our Father in Heaven’s commandments, we lose the influence of the Holy Ghost.)
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• Moroni 8:28 (The Holy Ghost will stop trying to help us if we do not repent.)
We Receive Other Special Blessings through the Holy Ghost
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• Mark 16:17–18; Mormon 9:7–24 (Spiritual gifts are part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.)
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• 1 Corinthians 12:1–11; Moroni 10:8–19; Doctrine and Covenants 46:10–33 (The Holy Ghost will give us spiritual gifts.)
We Should Work to Develop and Use the Gifts We Have
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• Matthew 25:14–30 (Our Father in Heaven gives us gifts for us to use in His work, and if we do not use them we may lose them.)
The Gift of the Holy Ghost Can Be Valuable to Us
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• Alma 34:37–38 (We should try to do the things the Holy Ghost tells us to do.)
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We must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.
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Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of the Holy Ghost.
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The brother of Jared had such great faith that he saw the finger of Jesus before Jesus was born on the earth.