The Need to Act on the Truths

I just watched/read/listened to Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella's talk, Essential Truths—Our Need to Act, and the title alone reminded me of one important, if not essential, truth: merely knowing the truth is not sufficient; we must also act on it. For example, we might know that there are sharks in a particular bay, but if we don't act on that knowledge by resisting the urge to swim there, that knowledge isn't going to protect us from the sharks. Similarly, we might know how to bake a cake, but unless we use that knowledge to bake the cake properly, we're going to end up with a less-than-ideal cake or something that's not a cake at all. Acting on knowledge is just as essential as possessing it.

We know the truths of the Gospel. Many of us have know them all our lives. But merely knowing those truths isn't enough. We also have to put that knowledge into practice by doing those things that we know that we should do and by not doing those things that we know that we should not do. Learning the Lord's will is only the first step; the second step is doing it.

Unfortunately, the second step is the hard one. It's relatively easy to learn the Lord's will, given the many methods we've been given to learn it. We can study the scriptures, the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern. We can consult with our church teachers and leaders, and of course, there's always personal revelation. Learning what God wants is often relatively easy. Actually doing it can be difficult.

While knowing the will of the Lord is a question of study, doing the will of the Lord is a test of character. It requires wisdom and will-power. It requires the ability to understand how a particular commandment or principle applies to a given situation and acting accordingly, despite Satan tempting us not to. Acting on the truths of the gospel is far harder than learning them is.

Yet, if we don't act on those truths, there's really no point in learning them. The gospel isn't about just knowing the commandments, but keeping them. If we're not going to keep the commandments anyway, it would just as well if we didn't know them. Actually, if we're not going to act on the truths of the gospel, it would actually be better if we didn't know them, because then we wouldn't be held accountable for knowing the will of the Lord and not doing it. Ignorance of the law can be a fair defense, but for those of us who already know the truths of the gospel, we must act on them. I know that we'll be blessed if we do so, and that we'll be in serious trouble if we don't.