PROVO, Utah — During a devotional address to roughly 15,000 Brigham Young University students on Tuesday, Sept. 14, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encouraged listeners to “settle” within their hearts definitively and conclusively their faith in Jesus Christ and devotion to the restored gospel.
“To settle this in your hearts” is a phrase found in the Joseph Smith Translation of Luke 14:27-28: “Wherefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.”
“To settle,” Elder Andersen noted, can mean to resolve definitively and conclusively, to calm or bring to rest, or to make stable and permanent.
So what does it mean to Latter-day Saints to have faith settled in their hearts? “For me, it means that you have spiritually weighed the blessings and sacrifices of following Jesus Christ and exercising your precious will and agency,” Elder Andersen explained. “You have determined, you have chosen in your mind and spirit, that this will absolutely be the path your life will take. … You have embraced with complete confidence the covenants of the Lord’s house, and you have resolved that as the Savior said, ‘ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.’”
The campus community filled the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, for the late morning devotional with Elder Andersen, who was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen.
In his remarks, Elder Andersen discussed principles and issued promises associated with the process of “settling” faith in one’s heart.
As a special witness of Jesus Christ, he blessed listeners: “I bless you that your spiritual understanding will flourish, your spiritual gifts will multiply, and your life will be filled with greater purpose and happiness.”
‘Choose the road of discipleship’
Individuals today live in a world of commotion and confusion, where the adversary is replete with his deceptive tactics, said Elder Andersen.
“To make your faith in the Savior central to all your important motivations and decisions requires an unusual clarity of purpose, a humility and a firmness of mind. … To ‘settle this in your heart’ is to courageously choose the road of discipleship, with a determination to never turn away,” he said.
Confidently preparing to “settle this in your heart” is a work of both the mind and the heart, said Elder Andersen, quoting Doctrine and Covenants 8:2.
However, it does not mean individuals have to settle everything in their minds, Elder Andersen said. He shared a principle explained by President Dallin H. Oaks, who noted that reason and revelation are methods of learning available to seekers of knowledge. However, “Reason has the first word; revelation has the last word.”
Elder Andersen acknowledged there will always be questions without clear answers. “Allow the questions that do not yet have answers to rest patiently in a box labeled, ‘Answers forthcoming.’ Trust the clear and powerful feelings of your heart.”
Two ways to ‘settle this in your hearts’
Elder Andersen shared “two powerful ways to receive the spiritual strength to ‘settle this in your heart.’”
First, think more about the Savior.
“Immerse yourself deeply into the divine mission, the perfect life, the life-changing teachings, the incomparable Atonement and the breathtaking promises He offers you,” Elder Andersen encouraged. “Pray more in His name, read His words, apply His teachings, speak His name in reverence and conviction, believe in His power to forgive and refine you. The more you put Him into each of your days, the more you will know He is your Savior and Redeemer.”
Second, embrace more completely the Book of Mormon.
“When was the last time you read the Book of Mormon from the first page until the last?” Elder Andersen asked, adding, “Remember the Prophet Joseph Smith declared this book will bring you ‘nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than any other book.’”
‘This is the spirit of consecration’
How does “this amazing choice and decision” to “settle this in your hearts” lift, enrich, and help individuals be who they want to be?
“As we ‘settle this in our hearts’ we absolutely trust in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We use the gift of choice, our precious agency, a gift whose value is next to life itself, to say to our Father, “I am yours, totally, completely, without reservation or condition. I will follow Thy Son not only because Thou has asked me to follow Him, but because I want to; … I will keep Thy commandments and turn my talents to helping others, my brothers and sisters, and to strengthening Thy kingdom on earth.”
Elder Andersen declared that “this is the spirit of consecration. When a heart willingly and completely, on its own, without compulsion, turns the key of consecration, the door of real freedom and spiritual power is opened.” Individuals are given “an added abundance of spiritual gifts,” including an “even more profound witness of the Savior.”
