During December, I studied all of the chapters in the Book of Mormon which contain the teachings of Jesus Christ. Here are some of the principles I learned, grouped by category:

The Love of God

• God loves all of His children and will answer them when they call. We can ask for blessings with confidence that He will answer.
• When we begin to see the hand of God in our lives, we may be only catching a glimpse of something that has been going on for some time. He may be at work today, preparing help we will need in the future.

Loving and Serving Others

• We can hold up the light of the Savior by performing small acts of service.
• We should serve others in a way that is pleasing to God. Sometimes that will result in more visible service, and other times, the service will be more private.
• If we want to be forgiven, we need to forgive others. If we want to receive mercy, we need to be merciful to others.
• The gospel can help people from different backgrounds learn to “see eye to eye.” The differences between us can make us stronger if we can learn to love one another as God loves all of us.
• We can learn to love the people around us by making the effort to truly “behold” them.
• When we disagree with others, we should avoid contention. Kindness toward others is an integral part of our discipleship.
• If others aren’t ready to accept our help, we should continue to be ready to serve them when they are ready to accept our help.

Prophets and Scriptures

• God always keeps His promises, and we can trust the teachings of the prophets.
• We should look for connections and common themes across the teachings of prophets as we search the scriptures.
• We are accountable for our response to the teachings of the prophets.
• Even when the words of prophets aren’t fulfilled immediately, we can have confidence that they will be fulfilled eventually.

Receiving Grace Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ

• Feelings of humility and inadequacy can help us open our hearts to receive the blessings of the Atonement.
• The companionship of the Holy Ghost purifies us by making the blessings of the Atonement available to us.
• Our religious practices are means to an end: they help us grow closer to the Savior and to become more like Him.
• We should carefully record our spiritual experiences, to show our Heavenly Father how much we value them.
• We must take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ in order to eventually inherit eternal life.