Cultivating the Deepest Longings: Educating Our Righteous Desires

Brothers and sisters, have you ever stopped to consider the quiet hum beneath the noise of daily life? That deep, persistent yearning that pulls you toward something greater? For us as disciples, that yearning—that *desire*—is where the real work happens. It’s not just about accumulating facts or mastering a skill; it’s about the architecture of our hearts.

Recently, I was reflecting on a talk by Brother Neil L. Andersen, and a phrase really resonated with me: “Educating our righteous desires.”

When I first heard it, I thought, *Educating?* Like we’re teaching a puppy? But as I dug into it, I realized this is so much deeper. It speaks to the sacred, personal territory we each possess—that place where our will and agency meet the Spirit’s whisper. It’s about nurturing what the Lord already planted, and gently pruning what might be pulling us off course.

The Architecture of Longing

Think about it. The Lord doesn't just judge our actions; He judges us “according to the desire of our hearts.” This is profound. Our desires are the compass points for our lives. They dictate where our time, our energy, and our covenants are ultimately directed. A desire for worldly acclaim, even if temporarily satisfying, pulls us in a different direction than a desire to truly *be Christlike*.

This concept is a beautiful, practical application of discipleship. It’s not enough to *know* the principles taught in the Preach My Gospel; we have to *desire* them. We have to want the deep, abiding peace that comes from keeping our covenants, not just because we *should*, but because our hearts genuinely ache for that peace.

It reminds me of the journey through the Missionary Training Center (MTC). You learn the mechanics—the talk structure, the lesson plans, the call-and-response—but the real preparation, the thing that sticks, is the desire to *go*. The desire to serve. That's the education of desire in action.

Being Christlike: The Highest Education

If we boil it down, what is the ultimate desire we should be educating ourselves toward? To become more like the Savior. To feel that deep, quiet anticipation for the day we can stand in the temple and feel the Spirit confirm that we are on the covenant path. That desire—that yearning for exaltation and righteousness—is the divine engine.

This isn't a passive process. It requires diligence. It requires us to treat our personal spiritual life like the most important study we’ve ever undertaken. If you’re a seasoned disciple, you know this feeling: the quiet commitment to keep showing up, even when the field feels dry or the comps are tough. We keep showing up because the desire to serve, to learn, to *be* better, is stronger than the difficulty.

I encourage you all to take a moment this week to identify one area where your current actions might be driven by habit or expectation, rather than by a deep, cultivated desire for the Savior. Where can you consciously redirect that energy? Maybe it’s dedicating extra time to your personal scripture study, or perhaps it’s committing to a specific focus during your next missionary discussion.

Remember, every member can be an Internet missionary, every member can be a disciple anywhere, all the time. Let's keep educating those righteous desires together.

If you want to dive deeper into how to apply this principle to your current calling, I highly recommend checking out the latest insights from Davee. He has some excellent frameworks for tackling those "hard questions" an investigator might bring up.

For those who are ready to study this further, consider joining a Book Club in HolyPlaces. We’ve been discussing the Book of Mormon's covenants, and it’s been a powerful reminder of what we are working toward!