Retaining the Constant Companionship of the Holy Ghost

All of us desire the inner peace, comfort, and cleansing that comes into our lives as we feel the power of the Holy Spirit working within us. At times we may feel a lack of the presence of this third member of the Godhead. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we stress the importance of obtaining the gift of the Holy Ghost through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands (Articles of Faith 1:4). Equally important, however, is the quest for retaining the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

How do we develop the constancy required to always have the Holy Ghost with us? When we are baptized, we covenant with God that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, that we do always remember Him and keep His commandments. In return, we receive the promised blessing to always have the Holy Ghost with us. I find it significant how Moroni states “that they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3). The word “may” is used to express possibility, opportunity, and contingency (dictionary.com/browse/may). We may always have his Spirit to be with us if we choose to remember Christ and follow His example. The promise to always have the Spirit with us is contingent on our keeping of the baptismal covenant.

How can we always remember Christ in the fallen world in which we live? Once principle we learn from Lehi’s experience in the vision of the tree of life is that we can control our thoughts and maintain an optimistic outlook, despite the vicissitudes of life. We can choose to focus our lives on Christ and be a light unto others, rather than focus on all of the things that are going wrong in the world today.

“And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water” (1 Nephi 15:27).

We too must follow Lehi’s example in letting our minds be swallowed up in uplifting thoughts rather than be cast down by a pessimistic outlook on life or entangled by the temptations and sins of the world. Like Lehi, we can choose to behold the tree of life and keep our focus on Christ, rather than behold the “filthiness of the water.”

Preach My Gospel states: “Your mind is like a stage in a theater; in the theater of your mind, however, only one actor can be on stage at a time. If the stage is left bare, thoughts of darkness and sin often enter the stage to tempt. But these thoughts have no power if the stage of your mind is occupied by wholesome thoughts, such as a memorized hymn or verse of scripture that you can call upon in a moment of temptation. By controlling the stage of your mind, you can successfully resist persistent urges to yield to temptation and indulge in sin. You can become pure and virtuous” (Preach My Gospel, ch. 6, 119).

Just as Moroni fortified the lands of the Nephites by using heaps of earth, timbers, pickets, and towers, we need to fortify our minds against temptation by preparing ourselves with memorized scriptures, uplifting quotes, hymns, and thoughts that draw us nearer unto our Savior Jesus Christ (Alma 50:1-4). The only way the Lamanites were able to get through Moroni's fortifications was through the "place of entrance”.

“Because the Lamanites had destroyed it once because of the iniquity of the people, they supposed that it would again become an easy prey for them. But behold, how great was their disappointment; for behold, the Nephites had dug up a ridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of entrance” (Alma 49:3-4).

Ultimately, it is up to us to guard our minds. The only way that Satan is able to influence us is when we let our guard down and allow him to fill our minds with thoughts that divert our focus away from Christ. We must prepare ourselves to defend against the temptations of the adversary by feasting upon the words of Christ so that we will know what we must do to always remember Him (2 Nephi 32:3). When temptation presents itself, we need to exert all of our best efforts to replace negative thoughts with thoughts of a higher, spiritual plane.

“Thus they were prepared, yea, a body of their strongest men, with their swords and their slings, to smite down all who should attempt to come into their place of security by the place of entrance; and thus were they prepared to defend themselves against the Lamanites” (Alma 49:20).

I have found the principle of developing firmness of mind to have a major impact on the degree to which we retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Jacob teaches, “O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.” We may feast upon his love and enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost if we fill our minds with thoughts that draw us nearer unto God.

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall by thy constant companion” (D&C 121:45-46).

I have chosen to focus on this principle of letting virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly because I have found this essential in successfully navigating the storms of life. Let us pray to know for ourselves what more we can do to invite the constant companionship of the Spirit into our lives. Let us always remember Christ and apply his teachings in our lives. If we do these things, we will witness that “the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm” (1 Nephi 18:21). Such are the blessings of retaining the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.