Latter-day Saint Life

Was That Revelation or Just Me?

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MR says: How do you know if what you are feeling is the Spirit or something you've imagined? What are some signs that what you are feeling comes from your Heavenly Father?

Many people in the Church struggle knowing whether they are feeling the Spirit or creating something on their own.

Jack Marshall, an institute instructor at the University of Utah, spoke in the Marriott Center during the 2015 BYU Campus Education Week about an often-asked question in an address titled “Was That Revelation or Just Me?”

Brother Marshall read from the Book of Mormon: “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5). He said, “Isn’t that a wonderful promise?”

Receiving personal revelation doesn’t just stop with the Book of Mormon, he said. It can be received about all things. “Dealing with marital concerns, family concerns, health concerns, and financial concerns—all those aspects that trouble us in a very imperfect world,” Brother Marshall said. . . .

Attempting to answer the question of knowing whether or not inspiration is from God, Brother Marshall explained that one of the strongest manifestations of the Spirit is peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). . . .

Members of the Church may likely feel the Spirit but not recognize it, or they may doubt it, Brother Marshall said.

He then read a quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Perhaps lifelong members of the Church don’t recognize the testimony of the Spirit because they have had it so often they take it for granted. Perhaps they are looking for something startling and different. … I have heard adult members of the Church claim they do not have a testimony because they have never experienced a ‘burning in the bosom’ (D&C 9:8).

Lead image from LDS.org.
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