Why We Read the Scriptures

A couple days ago when I called the kids to come for family scripture study, one of my children moaned, “Why do we have to read the scriptures?!” So as an answer to that we read part of the final talk of Elder Richard G. Scott. I love what he said about scripture study in that address: “To know what the voice of the Divine sounds and feels like, read His words, study the scriptures, and ponder them. Make them an integral part of everyday life. If you want your children to recognize, understand, and act on the promptings of the Spirit, you must study the scriptures with them. Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!” I love his promise he also gave: “As you dedicate time every day, personally and with your family, to the study of God’s word, peace will prevail in your life…. Through daily, consistent scripture study, you will find peace in the turmoil around you and strength to resist temptations. You will develop strong faith in the grace of God and know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all will be made right according to God’s timing.” So some of the answers to my child’s question include that we read the scriptures to learn to know the voice of the Lord, to find personal peace, to gain strength to resist temptations, and to develop strong faith in Jesus Christ. We must not let lesser things convince us that we do not have time for this most important activity.

            Nephi also gave us three reasons why the study of the word of God is so important. After he wrote some of the prophecies about the Savior with His suffering and death from the prophets on the brass plates, he said, “And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer.” He also explained that he read the words of Isaiah to his brothers in order to “more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.” So a crucial reason that we read the scriptures is to remember the Savior and to believe in Him. Our study of the scriptures is a key way that we fulfill our covenant we make when we partake of the Sacrament each week to “always remember Him.” Second, Nephi also wrote, “It came to pass that I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old.” We study the scriptures in order to learn of the doings of the Lord among other people and other lands. As we come to understand how He helped and blessed others who had faith in Him in days past, we can learn to trust Him more fully to be with and strengthen us in our day. Nephi showed us how to do this when he used the story of Moses to inspire his brothers to continue their pursuit of the brass plates and not fear Laban: “Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.” Because Nephi understood how the Lord had helped Moses and the Israelites to escape from Egypt and miraculously cross the Red Sea, he had faith that the Lord could help them too, saying: “Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 4:2-3). Lastly, in the same idea, Nephi also suggested that we can apply the scriptures to our own lives: “For I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning” (1 Nephi 19:18-23). We read the scriptures to profit and learn for our own lives; we find in the word of God the Spirit of the Lord which helps us to know how to act and what to do in our own challenges. As Nephi testified later, “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do,” a promise that is fulfilled as we have the Holy Ghost to guide us in our study of His word (2 Nephi 32:3). All of these are powerful answers to my son’s question. We need the scriptures every day—both as individuals and families—to remember the Savior, find peace amidst turmoil, resist temptations, obtain answers to questions about our own lives, and ultimately develop strong faith in Jesus Christ.