Truth

One of my very favorite subjects is truth. It can actually be a very touchy subject, believe it or not.:)

First off, I would like to say that each of us has a partial view, a flawed perspective of the world around us. No matter how many enlightening experiences we have had, no matter the scope of our learning, no matter the breadth of our intelligence and wisdom, we are imperfect beings. 

The only one to have a perfect view of everything is God, our Heavenly Father. He sees all that we do not see. His perspective is truly eternal. 

Does this mean that we should throw up our hands in dismay and forget about trying to find truth and the true perspective? Absolutely not. We should always be striving to see the way that God sees. 

In any sort of game, there are rules. The players must follow the rules to be able to enjoy the game and have it end in some sort of meaningful result. They must understand the rules in order to understand what is going on during the game. To win a game, you must understand the rules. 

Truth can be compared loosely to this example of a rules in a game. If we do not know the rules, or truth, we cannot be successful during the game, or life. 

If you tried to play the game of checkers by the rules of chess, would you win? Would you even be able to compete? There would be no point to your game if you were playing by the wrong rules. 

So, if truth is so important, what is it? Where do we find it? How do we avoid the ocean of opinion and falsehood to get to it?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a beautiful CES devotional in January of 2013 about this very topic. The full article is here: https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/print/ces-devotionals/2013/01/what-is-truth?lang=eng

One part of his talk really emphasizes this point: 

Yes, our world is full of confusion. But eventually all of our questions will be answered. All of our doubts will be replaced by certainty. And that is because there is one source of truth that is complete, correct, and incorruptible. That source is our infinitely wise and all-knowing Heavenly Father. He knows truth as it was, as it is, and as it yet will be. "He comprehendeth all things, … and he is above all things, … and all things are by him, and of him."Our loving Heavenly Father offers His truth to us, His mortal children.Now, what is this truth?It is His gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life.”If we will only have enough courage and faith to walk in His path, it will lead us to peace of heart and mind, to lasting meaning in life, to happiness in this world, and to joy in the world to come. The Savior is “not far from every one of us.”¹⁷ We have His promise that if we seek Him diligently, we will find Him.... Just think about it. You actually have a powerful companion and trustworthy guide in this ongoing search for truth. Who is it? It is the Holy Ghost. Our Heavenly Father knew how difficult it would be for us to sift through all the competing noise and discover truth during our mortality. He knew we would see only a portion of the truth, and He knew that Satan would try to deceive us. So He gave us the heavenly gift of the Holy Ghost to illuminate our minds, teach us, and testify to us of the truth.... Yes, your loving Father in Heaven would never leave you alone in this mortality to wander in the dark. You need not be deceived. You can overcome the darkness of this world and discover divine truth.

The next step after understanding truth is to seek the lifestyle that follows truth.
Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is truth, we should seek to align our lives with truth. This is where the doctrine of the family comes in. It is on this basis that families should be built. The Family: A Proclamation to the World states:

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

Here is some truth that we can apply to our "game" of life. It will increase our odds of coming out victorious and happy in family life.