Saturday, April 26, 2014

Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80 -- On Teaching and Learning

"And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;
Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you."
Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-80


In this selection, God commands some of the early saints to teach each other the doctrine of the kingdom.  And this same commandment applies to us as well.  He goes on to explain why, which is really interesting.  The reason is "that you may be instructed more perfectly."  We teach, so that we will be taught. :)  Seems simple, but it feels like there is so much behind that... a principle that works for a Zion society.  We do things for each other.  I teach for the good of all, and so that at some point I will be taught as well... so we all teach, and thus we all learn together.  And one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it, so just doing the teaching helps us learn as well. :)
Another thing that I love here is that after God tells us to teach one another doctrine, he starts listing things that pertain to the kingdom of God... and he basically includes everything.  Things in heaven and earth, and under the earth.  Things which have been, and are, and will be.  Really, what else IS there?  And I love that it is all the doctrine and the gospel and that ALL of it pertains to the kingdom of God.  God commands us to learn, and learn, and keep learning... and to teach it to each other, so that we will be prepared in all things.  Everything that we are about here on Earth (and heaven and under the earth) is about education... about teaching, about learning, and about being prepared.  We can basically set out to learn or teach almost anything and still be following this commandment... the sole exception being making sure it isn't something that offends the spirit.  So, today, an easy admonition: teach something that has to do with God. :)  And once we accomplish that, let's not stop there.  Let's keep teaching things every day (and thereby learning them as well), and let's learn all we can, and be prepared for wherever God wants to send us, to do whatever the Lord wants us to do.  And if we have some down time between tasks or missions, then this is always a commandment we can fall back on.  Teach.  Learn.  Prepare.  And as we teach each other and learn together, all of us will become more prepared, and more capable, until the perfect day. :)

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