Recognizing the voice of the spirit is something the Lord wants us to master. The language of the Spirit is the most important language we could ever learn. It is such a gift to us as learn it. As we “tune in” and do those things which bring us closer to the Lord, His spirit will manifest truth, comfort us, direct us, sanctify us, fill us with hope and love, and bear witness that we are the children of God.
When I was dating my husband, we used to read scriptures on the back of his truck during our noon hour lunch break. One day I found inside his scriptures, a little bookmark that had been made for him by his Mission President’s wife (California San Jose Mission, Roger & Marsha Ball). I remember reading it and loving him all the more because I truly felt that he abided by these principles.
This is what was on the bookmark.
One side it said “When You have the spirit”:
You feel happy, calm, and clear minded.
You feel generous.
Nobody can offend you.
You wouldn’t mind everyone seeing what you are doing.
You are eager to be with people and want to make them happy.
You are glad when others succeed.
You are glad to attend you meetings and participate in church activities.
You feel like praying.
You wish you could keep all the Lord’s commandments.
You feel in control – you don’t overeat or sleep too much, you don’t feel uncontrollably drawn to sensational entertainment, lose your temper or feel uncontrollable passions or desires.
You think about the Savior often and lovingly. You want to know Him better.
You feel confident and are glad to be alive.
“The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.” Moroni 7:16
and the other side said “When you don’t have the spirit”:
You feel unhappy, *depressed, confused and frustrated.
You feel possessive, self-centered or resentful of demands made on you.
You are easily offended.
You become secretive and evasive.
You avoid people, especially members of your family and you are critical of family members & church authorities.
You envy or resent the success of others.
You don’t want to go to church, take on church responsibilities or take the sacrament.
You don’t want to pray.
You find the commandments bothersome, restricting, or senseless.
You feel emotions and appetites so strongly that you fear you cannot control them (hate, jealousy, anger, lust, hunger, fatigue).
You hardly ever think of the Savior. He seems irrelevant to your life.
You get discouraged easily and wonder if life is really worth it.
“But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” Moroni 7:16
I’ve since made these into bookmarks for my children to put in their scriptures, and I was excited this month to share this with my laurels as I teach about the Holy Ghost, so I made it into a printable for them, which you are free to download on the links below.
(*Note: I don’t believe when depression is mentioned here, that it is talking about “clinical” depression. I believe it’s talking more about the lows and depressed times we all have during the ups and downs in life.)
There are certain feelings, desires and mindset we will be in when the spirit is present with us, and, likewise, when it is not. I think it is good to be aware of these feelings and to do a self check once in awhile, especially if we are prone to negative thinking, temptation or deception. If we find our thoughts, words, actions, media/music choices, company we keep or environments we subject ourselves to are not in line with the spirit of the Holy Ghost or teachings of the Church, we need to make necessary changes and replace darkness with light. We can be sure the spirit will return if we humble ourselves, invite the spirit to return through prayer and then change our actions to be in accordance with His will. The formula is very simple. As we “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men…” (2 Nephi 31:20) we are blessed with that spirit which will keep us on the path toward eternal life. As we “….feast upon the word of Christ…” (2 Nephi 31:20) the spirit will lead us in “…all things what [we] should do.” (2 Nephi 32:3).
We must beware of “imitators” of that Holy Spirit, for there are many. The feeling of the Holy Ghost is a calm, reassurance of truth. Rarely are dramatic manifestations present. David A. Bednar has some great thoughts on this in these 3 videos “Patterns of Light”:
Part 1 – The Light of Christ:
Part 2 – Discerning Light:
Part 3: Spirit of Revelation:
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