ABSTRACT: Recognizing and following the influence of the Spirit is perhaps the most important skill we can develop in this life. Unfortunately, it is often misunderstood and ambiguously explained. The primary mission of the Holy Ghost is not a momentary hug to comfort us or to tell us what to do by giving us thoughts. His work and glory is the same as that of our Heavenly Father and Savior: to bring to pass our salvation and exaltation, or in other words, to help us become as they are. Scriptures shows that prophets across millennia, geographies, cultures, and languages reference the same characteristics of Deity to describe their experiences with the Holy Ghost—namely, love, righteousness, knowledge, strength, and peace. The Holy Ghost imbues us with the characteristics of our God.

KEYWORDS: Holy Ghost, Spirit, godhead, fruit of the Spirit

What about our youth, who more than ever in the history of the world are bombarded with half-truths, sophistries, misinformation, and falsehoods? How do we, as their presumably more spiritually mature mentors, explain how to recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost? Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

In his first general conference as President of the Church, President Russell M. Nelson proclaimed, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”[1]

In our devotion and sincerity to follow God’s prophet, more specifically our Savior, we frequently respond to this admonition by wondering, “Yes, but how do I recognize when I’m being directed or influenced by the Holy Ghost?” It is less a question of how we put ourselves in a better position to have his companionship and more about how we can recognize his loving presence with the same confidence that we recognize the faces of our mother, father, or spouse. How do we know it is the voice of the Shepherd?

The gospel of Jesus Christ is founded on the principle of personal revelation. This dispensation started with a sincere youth asking a question of God and receiving an answer from him. Our personal testimonies and ultimate conversion are predicated on our ability to likewise receive a divine witness of truth. Along with former Relief Society General President Julie B. Beck, I affirm that “the ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.”[2] After all, we cannot know the things of God, including Christ’s divinity, the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, and the divine call of modern-day prophets, unless we hear, recognize, and follow his voice (1 Corinthians 2:11).

This being the case, why do we find it difficult to clearly explain the influence of the Holy Ghost when he is with us? My faithful mother, now in her seventies, recently said, “I have not felt the Holy Ghost that many times in my life.” This broke my heart—not because it was true but because for decades she had been looking for the wrong signs. I’m amazed that she has remained faithful so long with a perception of having experienced so little interaction with the Holy Ghost.

What about our youth, who more than ever in the history of the world are bombarded with half-truths, sophistries, misinformation, and falsehoods? How do we, as their presumably more spiritually mature mentors, explain unambiguously how to recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost?

Even sincerely using scriptural language like “burning in the bosom” and “peace” along with modern descriptions such as “throbbing heart,” “chills,” and the often-heard “Everyone feels the Spirit differently” can leave our youth thirsting for a clearer understanding of the Holy Ghost’s influence. To be clear, I am not suggesting that these descriptors are wrong, only that without further explanation and the addition of “plain and precious” language, we may leave our youth thinking they have never been influenced by the Spirit or that they have “felt” the Holy Ghost when it was merely excitement, relief, or some other emotion.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks recognized the need for further clarity when he added insight to the phrase “burning in the bosom”: “What does a ‘burning in the bosom’ mean? Does it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom. Surely, the word “burning” in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity. That is the witness many receive. That is the way revelation works.”[3]

With that as background, my goal here is to help youth, young adults, and ourselves enjoy a greater measure of companionship with the Holy Ghost. I begin by identifying clear, relatable, and reliable indicators and language in scripture that describe the varied operations and effects of the Spirit. I also review the fruit of the Spirit and group them into five relatable themes. Next, I clarify the divine mission of the Holy Ghost and explore the prevalence of his influence in the life experiences of those who honor their covenants. Then I discuss how the covenant promise to “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:70) is more literal and transformative than we may recognize. It is my hope that this information and approach will help prepare members young and old to better survive spiritually in the coming days because we more confidently recognize that the Holy Ghost can always be with us as we honor our covenants.

Recognizing the Holy Ghost’s Influence

To begin, I would like to walk you through a scriptural exercise I have done many times with students. First, ask them to list all the ways they have described, or have heard described, the influence of the Holy Ghost. You will most likely receive responses that mention a burning in the bosom, other uplifting feelings (peace, comfort, calm, warmth, happiness, excitement, joy, being moved to tears), a still small voice, a throbbing heart, a hug to the heart, chills, and the commonplace that everyone feels the Holy Ghost differently.

That list provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the inadequacies of many of our traditional descriptors. For example, they invite questions such as the following:

• What does a burning in the bosom feel like? Is it a literal sensation of warmth, or is this phrase also a metaphor for a stirring of the “heart”?
• What is the difference between a spiritually derived inner peace and the relief you feel when you finish an important test or find your lost keys?
• How do the chills from the Holy Ghost differ from the chills you get as your favorite rock star walks out on stage?

The goal of this line of questioning and subsequent discussion is not to erode students’ confidence in their testimonies by degrading what they thought was the Holy Ghost. Rather, it is to establish how important it is to mature into a proper understanding of the Holy Ghost and his role and to develop a clear and relatable way to help each other confidently recognize “the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”[4]

With the baseline set, it is time to turn to the scriptures for the next step in the exercise. Over millennia and across cultures, languages, and geographies, prophets have used hundreds of nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe their personal experiences with the Holy Ghost.

Because we do not have space to go through the entire exercise here, I will describe it and provide the outcome. However, I highly recommend that you try this exercise on your own and guide students through the learning process.

Have the students read each of the 17 scriptures that appear in boldface at the end of this article; more than 50 scriptures are listed in that appendix, but I’ve found that is too much to cover in an hour-long class.

1. For each scripture, have the class identify the influences of the Holy Ghost.
2. Record all those influences (or fruit of the Spirit) in one long list. If an attribute of the Spirit is repeated, place a tally mark next to it in your list to see how many times it is mentioned.

You should have a lengthy list at this point in the exercise. If you read all 58 scriptures (the list is longer than that but repeats many passages in different categories), you should have a list of around 97 unique descriptors. If you read only the 17 boldfaced passages, your list will be smaller but still significant. To be sure, having 97 scripturally based ways to describe the Holy Ghost’s influence can be overwhelming and confusing. Adding to that list the myriad modern-day descriptors, it is no wonder we find it difficult to describe this eternally important divine interaction in a plain and precious way. So let’s not stop here.

3. After reading all the scriptures and listing all the attributes or fruit of the Spirit, have the class group the list into five themes.

This exercise might appear tedious, but a critical connection occurs as students gain experience with the scriptures and ownership of the outcome. To help in this process, I have provided a thematic grouping from the list of 17 scriptures at the end of this article.

Having done this exercise many times with students, I found that the attributes of the Holy Ghost described in scripture fit into five categories or themes: Prophets describe experiencing (1) an increase in love for themselves and others; (2) their desire to be good and to be around good things is magnified; (3) they are taught new things and are reminded of old things, and their perspective is increased; (4) they are filled with quiet confidence in their decisions and the direction of their lives; and (5) they are strengthened with added power to continue to live the life of a disciple and stay on the covenant path.

These five attributes of the Spirit—an increase in love, righteousness, knowledge, peace, and power—may combine to witness that the Holy Ghost is our companion and guides our lives.

The beauty of a smaller list of influences of the Holy Ghost like the one I offer here is that it is focused and easier to absorb—and thus “plain and precious.” With this approach we can clearly and effectively help our youth learn how to identify and thereby more fully appreciate the influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives.

Love

“. . . the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love” — Moroni 8:26

We all know what it feels like to have an increased desire for the well-being of another person—to genuinely desire the best for a friend, a family member, or even a stranger. We have experienced moments when we have a greater appreciation for who we are and who we can become in light of our divine potential. We have enjoyed moments of clarity that allowed us to look beyond the weaknesses and faults of another or ourselves, recognize the wonderful qualities we all have, and feel excited about our limitless potential if we simply live within the bounds the Lord has set. We have also been filled with overwhelming gratitude for our Father in Heaven and our Savior and have been inspired by an increased desire to be close to them.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught the following about the refining influences of the Holy Ghost:

The Holy Ghost causes our feelings to be more tender. We feel more charitable and compassionate with each other. We are more calm in our relationships. We have a greater capacity to love each other. People want to be around us because our very countenances radiate the influence of the Spirit. We are more godly in our character. As a result, we become increasingly more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and thus able to comprehend spiritual things more clearly.[5]

Righteousness

“. . . the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” —Mosiah 5:2

Life is full of tests and trials. Some of them are rooted in how we respond to our own internal thoughts and desires: anger, jealousy, enmity, fear, laziness, lust, and so on. Nevertheless, we have all had moments when those commonplace pitfalls seem to lose their power and we are filled with an all-encompassing desire to simply be good, do good, and be around good things and good people. It is as if a warm bath of goodness flows over and into us, cleaning us from a coat of earthly mire from the inside out. Our desires (our hearts) are transformed, and we have no appetite to do anything malicious or mischievous but to do good continually. Our very nature has changed.

Joseph Smith appeared to Brigham Young in a dream and gave this counsel: “They [the brethren] can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits; . . . it will take malice, hatred, strife, and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord, they will go right. . . . Tell the people to be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and follow it, and it will lead them just right.”[6]

Knowledge

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance.” —John 14:26

With the overwhelming amount of information flowing in the clouds and accessible in milliseconds from our “smart” devices, factual knowledge is pedestrian. As such, it comes with little appreciation and even less edification. Although we have all experienced learning, we must not confuse it with the infusion of pure intelligence that penetrates our minds and hearts when our Father speaks to us through the Holy Ghost.

We recognize this divine transfer of intelligence because, unlike destructive knowledge from the adversary or empty facts from the world, it is always married with the other attributes of the Spirit. There is an assuring peace while our knowledge increases, our capacity to do and be good grows, and we are filled with the requisite love to build up those around us.

Knowledge can be big or small, specific or general. It could be something new or a reminder of something we have already learned. We know what it feels like to receive what the Prophet Joseph Smith termed “pure intelligence” accompanied by peace, love, goodness, and strength. He clarified what it’s like to experience this attribute of the Spirit: “A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing unto you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas that by noticing it you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon—i.e., those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God will come to pass, and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”[7]

Peace

“Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls.” —Alma 58:11

We have experienced moments of quiet confidence when, without a complete picture as to why, we know everything will be all right. Because it is coupled with love, this is not a self-aggrandizing arrogance but an inner assurance that we are in the right place or pointed in the right direction. In these moments of peace, we are comfortable with who we are, so we are not preoccupied with comparing ourselves with others; we only have their best interest at heart.

President James E. Faust gave us further clarity on peace granted by the Holy Ghost:

I believe the Spirit of the Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world. It can be more mind-expanding and can make us have a better sense of well-being than any chemical or other earthly substance. It will calm nerves; it will breathe peace to our souls. This Comforter can be with us as we seek to improve. It can function as a source of revelation to warn us of impending danger and also help keep us from making mistakes. It can enhance our natural senses so that we can see more clearly, hear more keenly, and remember what we should remember. It is a way of maximizing our happiness.”[8]

Power/Strength

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.” —2 Timothy 1:7

Through Christ’s enabling power, we find strength in the Spirit, at least in part as the product of the peace, love, desire for good, and knowledge that he gives us. When we experience these divine attributes of the Spirit, we are strengthened to continue on the right course. This divine strength is often referred to as a renewing of our bodies. As our perspective, confidence, and knowledge are refreshed, we are filled with hope and find added strength to carry the loads of this life.

This is not the domineering power that the world seeks. It is power that emanates from Deity (Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–42). It is a power founded in increased love for others and ourselves, increased quiet confidence and assurance that everything will be okay, and increased desire for all things good, pure, and righteous.

In speaking of the Holy Ghost’s effects, the Apostle Paul mentioned the gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9). President Lorenzo Snow offered the following comment

This was the kind of faith [a principle of power] that the Holy Ghost conferred upon those who possessed it, enabling its possessor to stand in the midst of every difficulty, defy every opposition and lay down his life, if necessary, for the cause that he had espoused. There was an almighty inspiring power in this faith, given by the Lord through the Holy Ghost, which no other principle could communicate.[9]

The Divine Mission of the Holy Ghost

Please recognize that I am not suggesting there are only five attributes of the Spirit. There are others, as indicated by the long list of scriptures already referred to. However, I am suggesting that those five attributes consistently and unitedly testify that God is with us. Like the primary colors, these attributes may be combined to form all good and righteous feelings and desires. Just as we put red and blue together to make purple and red and yellow together to make orange, when an increase in love is combined with an increase in peace, knowledge, desire for good, and power, our hearts are softened and we are filled with joy, hope, gentleness, meekness, chills, excitement, gratitude, and myriad other uplifting attributes.

This brings us to a powerful realization of this exercise: Who do we know who is All-Loving, All-Righteous, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and perfectly at peace with who he is?

In Moses 1:39 we learn that God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the “immortality and eternal life” of his children. This is not just life with God. It is a life like God’s, being his heirs (and “joint-heirs with Christ”) and being fully complete and “receivi[ng] of his fulness” (Romans 8:17; Doctrine and Covenants 93:19–20; Matthew 5:48, footnote b; 3 Nephi 12:48). God wants nothing more and nothing less than to give us all he has (Doctrine and Covenants 84:38) because, bound to him by covenants, we are securely on the path to becoming all he is.

As the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost participates in bringing our Heavenly Father’s work and glory to pass. Although the scriptures speak of the Holy Ghost’s role as the Comforter, his divine role is not to solely give us a hug when we feel down, nor is it to turn us into creatures to be “acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:14) by directing what we should do.

When the Holy Ghost is with us, he imbues us with our Savior’s characteristics. That is his divine calling and our eternal blessing. It has become customary to discuss the influence of the Holy Ghost in terms of how he makes us feel or what he makes us think. However, it is more appropriate to recognize his presence by what he helps us become. The more the Holy Ghost is our companion, the more we develop and refine our divine character and the more we receive all the blessings our Father has in store for us. The Savior himself taught this principle: “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20).

Following Eternal Laws

It has also become customary to discuss the Holy Ghost’s influence in terms of many distinct fruits, such as “When the Holy Ghost is with me, I feel peace” or “When the Holy Ghost is with me, I feel joy.” While these statements are true, they are incomplete. The characteristics of our Savior are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, love, peace, knowledge, a desire to do good, and divine power are inseparable blessings that flow from the Holy Ghost.

It is true that each time the Spirit is with us, one or two of these attributes may be more prominent and more easily recognizable than the others. However, if we are still and pay close attention to our desires, we will notice that other attributes of Christ are present when the Holy Ghost is with us. It is a package deal, which stands to reason since the Holy Ghost imbues us with Christ’s characteristics. Additionally, having multiple testaments of the Holy Ghost’s influence is in harmony with the Lord’s law of witnesses.[10]

At times, the Holy Ghost may flood our minds with pure intelligence, either teaching us something new, reminding us of things we had forgotten, or emphasizing a nuance of a trusted principle. This knowledge is accompanied by a peaceful assurance of its divine source and can spark in us an increased love for our Father in Heaven, a desire to improve our lives or the lives of others, and the motivation and power to realize the fulfillment of the revelation.

At other times the Holy Ghost may overwhelm our souls with quiet confidence in a time of need that everything will be okay, even though specific knowledge of exactly how may not be given at that moment. This peace is supported by subtle gratitude and love for our Father and Savior and a desire to stay closer to them. All the while, these attributes jointly swell our hearts and renew our bodies with hope so that the burdens on our backs become light enough for us to take a few more steps forward in an otherwise overwhelming situation.

No matter which attributes of the Holy Ghost are emphasized, the attributes of love, peace, knowledge, goodness, and power witness of each other and testify of divine reality.

Understanding that the Holy Ghost, the “witness of witnesses,” follows the law of witnesses helps us avoid strange paths (2 Nephi 31:18). After all, if in my desire to recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost I am looking for only one of his attributes, I can be more easily deceived than if I am prepared to recognize many of them. For example, perhaps I feel relief when I resolve cognitive dissonance by leaving the Church, mistaking that emotion for peace of the Spirit. Or if I focus only on knowledge as the fruit of the Spirit, I am liable to mistake something insightful yet doctrinally incorrect for revelation. Such confusions can easily happen. But if that peace or knowledge is accompanied by other fruit of the Spirit and characteristics of our Savior—namely a desire for good, love, and strength—we can more confidently know that it comes from a divine source.

The Apostle Paul taught this principle in the language he chose in his letters to the Galatians and Ephesians: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” and “the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 5:9). Note that before listing multiple attributes that the Spirit develops in us, Paul establishes that the “fruit . . . is” rather than “the fruits . . . are.” By using the singular form of fruit (karpós in Greek), Paul may be suggesting that these characteristics of Christ are circumscribed into one whole rather than being separate and distinct “fruits” without interconnection, as we commonly view them.

Prevalence of the Holy Ghost’s Mission

The pattern of our Savior imbuing the faithful with his characteristics through the Holy Ghost is prevalent in scripture. Although prophets have recorded their experiences with Deity in different times, places, and cultural and language contexts, a common thread runs through them all. For example, the bestowal of love, peace, righteousness, knowledge, and power is seen in Joseph Smith’s revelation in Liberty Jail (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45–46), Paul’s definition of charity (1 Corinthians 13:4–7) and description of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:14–17), Abraham’s expression of his desires (Abraham 1:2), Enos’s sacred experience while hunting (Enos 1:5–19), Jacob’s confounding of Sherem and its influence on the people (Jacob 7:21–25, and Alma’s prayer upon witnessing the Zoramites’ worship practice (Alma 31:30–35). A recent example is Elder Alexander Dushku’s April 2024 general conference message:

And yet, every one of us is different. No two people experience God’s light and truth in exactly the same way. Take some time to think about how you experience the light and Spirit of the Lord.

You may have experienced these bursts of light and testimony as “peace [spoken] to your mind concerning [a] matter” that has worried you.

Or as an impression—a still, small voice—that settled “in your mind and in your heart” and urged you to do something good, such as helping someone.

Perhaps you’ve been in a class at church—or at a youth camp—and felt a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ and stay faithful. Maybe you even stood and shared a testimony that you hoped was true and then felt it was.

Or maybe you’ve been praying and felt a joyful assurance that God loves you.

You may have heard someone bear testimony of Jesus Christ, and it touched your heart and filled you with hope.

Perhaps you were reading in the Book of Mormon and a verse spoke to your soul, as if God had put it there just for you—and then you realized that He did.

You may have felt the love of God for others as you served them.

Or maybe you struggle to feel the Spirit in the moment because of depression or anxiety but have the precious gift and the faith to look back and recognize past “tender mercies of the Lord.”

My point is that there are many ways to receive heavenly rays of testimony. These are just a few, of course.[11]

Did you notice our Savior’s characteristics and our list of five attributes of the Spirit in every example Elder Dushku provided? Here they are:

Love

• “You may have felt the love of God for others as you served them.”

Peace

• “You may have experienced these bursts of light and testimony as “peace [spoken] to your mind concerning [a] matter” that has worried you.”

Righteousness

• “Or as an impression—a still, small voice—that settled ‘in your mind and in your heart’ and urged you to do something good, such as helping someone.”
• “Perhaps you’ve been in a class at church—or at a youth camp—and felt a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ and stay faithful.”

Knowledge

• “Maybe you even stood and shared a testimony that you hoped was true and then felt it was. Or maybe you’ve been praying and felt a joyful assurance that God loves you.”
• “Perhaps you were reading in the Book of Mormon and a verse spoke to your soul, as if God had put it there just for you—and then you realized that He did.”
• “Maybe you struggle to feel the Spirit in the moment because of depression or anxiety but have the precious gift and the faith to look back and recognize past ‘tender mercies of the Lord.’”

Power

• “You may have heard someone bear testimony of Jesus Christ, and it touched your heart and filled you with hope.”

In addition to teaching that God’s characteristics are magnified in us through the Holy Ghost, Elder Dushku’s message highlights a very important point. It has become customary to say, “Everyone feels the Spirit differently.” Just like the phrase “burning in the bosom” that Elder Oaks recognized needed clarification, this phrase, too, is true in the proper context. Still, if left unclarified, it may not be helpful for those seeking to learn how the Holy Ghost operates. For example, in our attempts to explain its workings, we may inadvertently open the door to “anything goes”—things like chills, excitement, relief, or a compelling idea that may or may not be from the Holy Ghost. Our Heavenly Father is not a cosmic impressionist; he does not create one voice for you and another for me. When the Lord says, “My sheep hear my voice, . . . and they follow me,” he is referring to a single unifying voice (John 10:27), albeit perceived in different ways.

Because the stand-alone phrase “Everyone feels the Spirit differently” may leave some learners unedified and uncertain, consider rephrasing to provide more context. I have found it helpful to say, “The Holy Ghost develops our divine characteristics through many experiences depending on our circumstances.” For example, some people receive knowledge through visions while others receive impressions or hear an audible voice. Regardless of the delivery, knowledge is received. Some increase in righteousness through their desire to serve a mission, while others might do so through a decrease in entertaining temptation. Whatever the nature of one’s specific righteous desire, the overall desire to do go and be good is magnified. As a final example, some grow in brotherly love through a willingness to help their neighbor, and some experience it through a decreased urge to judge themselves and others. The point here is that regardless of the specific focus of our love, an increased compassion for the well-being of others blossoms in us.

This principle is seen in Elder Dushku’s message. Although there are different experiences with and through the Holy Ghost, the underlying characteristics of Christ or the fruit of the Spirit are prevalent in each one. Said another way, the instrument God uses may change, but the underlying melody remains the same. Our All-Loving, All-Knowing, All-Righteous, and All-Powerful Savior cultivates his characteristics in us through the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost is our companion, we become a little more like Christ, then a little more, then a little more, until one day our “whole bodies shall be filled with light” and we find ourselves fully complete as Christ, who is the Light (Doctrine and Covenants 6:21; 93:2). Regardless of their different experiences, we must help our youth look for and follow the never-changing characteristics of Christ that are given to them by the Holy Ghost.

Reaching our Divine Potential by Always Having His Spirit with Us

Because of the transformative power of our Savior, the initial covenant relationship we make with him through baptism and confirmation is eternally critical and powerful. We are blessed to always have his Spirit with us as we honor these covenants. Our desires, behavior, and character become more and more like Christ’s as we undergo a conversion and refining process described by Abraham:

Finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers (Abraham 1:2).

In the scriptures we learn that over millennia and across cultures, languages, and geographies, prophets have used hundreds of nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe their personal experiences with the Holy Ghost. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

To help our youth recognize the Holy Ghost’s influence more consistently and confidently in their lives, they must come to see his influence in their own process of becoming like Christ and reaching their divine potential. They must come to embrace the Holy Ghost’s transformative influence rather than distractedly trying to identify the source of momentary thoughts or feelings. Elder David A. Bednar has shared helpful counsel along this line:

We often make it hard on ourselves to receive personal revelation. By that I mean a covenant promise is that as we honor our covenants, we may always have the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion. But we talk about it and we treat it as if hearing the voice of the Lord through His Spirit is the rare event. . . . We shouldn’t be trying to recognize it when it comes; we should be recognizing what happens that causes it to leave. It ought to be with us all of the time. Not every nanosecond. . . . You don’t have to be perfect, but if you and I are doing our best, and we’re not committing serious transgression, then we can count on the Holy Ghost guiding us. So I think we sometimes start from a disadvantage in believing “I have to gear up to recognize it,” when it ought to be there all the time.

Secondly, I think in the culture of the Church, especially in the Western world, we seem to believe that the Holy Ghost is dramatic and big and sudden, when it’s still and small and incremental over time and that you don’t have to recognize that you are receiving revelation in the moment that you are receiving revelation. And so, because we think it’s got to be big and I have to know it, we have all of these things that I think are just exactly the opposite of what really happens as we receive revelation.[12]

The companionship of the Holy Ghost is indeed not a “rare event,” and it should not be an ambiguous relationship. The covenant promise is that we may always have his Spirit with us. If we honor our covenant relationship with Christ, the Holy Ghost is always transforming us. Line upon line, grace for grace, we grow into the fulness of the Lord (Doctrine and Covenants 93:20–28; 98:12). This happens as the Holy Ghost imbues in us the divine characteristics of our God and Savior.

King Benjamin and Paul summarize this supernal truth of divine transformation by Christ through the support of the Holy Ghost: “The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord” (Mosiah 3:19). “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). May we all be better able to survive spiritually by learning to recognize and follow “the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost” by witnessing what he helps us become.[13]

Appendix

This list is intended to be representative, not comprehensive. Scriptures in italics list multiple attributes or fruit of the Spirit across themes. Scriptures in bold are intended for an hour-long class.

Love

Galatians 5:22
2 Timothy 1:7
Romans 15:13
Alma 13:28
Alma 58:11
Moroni 7:13
Moroni 8:26
D&C 84:46

Peace

John 14:26–27
John 15:26
Romans 15:13
Galatians 5:22
Mosiah 4:3
Alma 58:11
3 Nephi 11:3
Moroni 8:26
D&C 6:23
D&C 9:8
D&C 21:9
D&C 35:19
D&C 42:16–17
D&C 88:3

Knowledge

Luke 1:67
Luke 12:11–12
John 14:26–27
John 15:26
John 16:13–14
Acts 19:6
1 Corinthians 2:11–12
1 Corinthians 12:3
2 Peter 1:20–21
1 Nephi 2:16–17
2 Nephi 21:2
Enos 1:10
Mosiah 5:2–3
Mosiah 24:13–15
Alma 12:3
Alma 18:16, 35
Alma 5:45–46
3 Nephi 19:33
Ether 4:11
Moroni 7: 12–13, 16, 24
Moroni 10:5
Moroni 10:8–17
D&C 6:15
D&C 8:1–3
D&C 11:12–14
D&C 20:27
D&C 21:9
D&C 35:19
D&C 42:16–17
D&C 63:41
D&C 76:5–10
D&C 84:46
D&C 100:8
D&C 121:26
Moses 5:9–10

Righteousness

John 16:8, 13–14
Ephesians 5:9
Galatians 5:22–23
1 Nephi 2:16
2 Nephi 21:2
2 Nephi 31:17
Mosiah 4:3
Mosiah 5:2–3
Mosiah 28:1–4
Alma 13:12
Alma 13:28
Alma 19:33
Alma 24:8
3 Nephi 27:20
Ether 4:11
Moroni 7:12–13, 16, 24
D&C 11:12–14
D&C 84:33
D&C 84:46

Power

Romans 8:11
Romans 15:13
Ephesians 1:13
Alma 58:11
2 Timothy 1:7
Galatians 5:22–23
1 Nephi 10:22
2 Nephi 21:2
Mosiah 24:13–15
Alma 18:35
Moroni 8:26
Moroni 10:8–17
D&C 63:41
D&C 84:33

Additional scriptures that may help categorize the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit:

• Mosiah 4:3; Alma 36:19–20—where joy comes from
• 1 Corinthians 13:4–7—defining hope, humility, and patience
• Guide to the Scriptures, s.v. “Meek, Meekness”
• Doctrine and Covenants 93:29, 36–37—characteristics of light

Suggested grouping of the fruit of the Spirit identified in the bolded scriptures above:

Love

Love
Longsuffering
Patient
Hope
Humble

Righteousness

Meekness
Submissive
Temperance
Goodness
No more disposition to do evil but to do good continually
Sanctified
Could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence
Bear record (testify)
Persuadeth men to do good
Joy

Knowledge

Sound mind
Teach you all things
Bring all things to your remembrance
Knoweth the things of God
Believe the words of God and know their truth
Great views of that which is to come
Prophesy of all things
Perceive thoughts
Know that these things are true

Strength/Power

Faith
Power
Renewing of their bodies
Quicken your mortal bodies
Faith faileth not
Joy

Peace

Peace
Comforter
Visit us with assurances and peace to our souls
Joy

Notes

[1] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” April 2018 general conference, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[2] Julie B. Beck, “And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit,” April 2010 general conference, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[3] Dallin H. Oaks, “Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, March 1997, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[4] Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.”

[5] Ezra Taft Benson, “Seek the Spirit of the Lord,” Ensign, April 1988, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[6] Brigham Young vision, February 17, 1847, in Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878, Church History Library, Salt Lake City; spelling, punctuation, and capitalization modernized.

[7] History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 (2 November 1838–31 July 1842), 9 (addenda), www.josephsmithpapers.org.

[8] James E. Faust, “The Gift of the Holy Ghost—A Sure Compass,” April 1989 general conference, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[9] “Strengthened by the Power of the Holy Ghost,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow (2012), chap. 4, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[10] Compare Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 18:15–16; John 8:12–19; Ether 5:4; Doctrine and Covenants 6:28; 128:3.

[11] Alexander Dushku, “Pillars and Rays,” April 2024 general conference, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[12] “An Evening with a General Authority—Elder Bednar Discussion,” February 2020, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2020-02-1020-an-evening-with-a-general-authority-elder-bednar-discussion.

[13] Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.”