Losing the Gift of the Holy Ghost
The scripture teach that the gift of the Holy Ghost comes to those who “diligently seek” for it. I agree, but I also believe that this gift is experienced by our youth (an adults too) who don’t fit this description of diligence. I can remember as a young man having experiences with the spirit when I wasn’t seeking, in fact, I wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping the commandments.
When we’re baptized and confirmed members of the church we’re given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Nephi tells us that we need to diligently seek to obtain this gift. In my opinion, what he is referring to is the higher manifestations of this gift, like he received.
Nephi appears to be a “seamless” prophet until we read 2 Nephi 4, but even then his near perfect ability to keep the commandments sets him apart.
Fortunately, the Lord has other prophets who don’t fit the seamlessness of Nephi. Maybe we could call them “patchwork” prophets. There are quite a few of them as a matter of fact. I’m thinking of Amulek as I write this. In his case he had many experiences with the gift of the Holy Ghost, but was diligently seeking other things, and successfully ignored the Lord’s spirit for a season.[1] Based on Amulek’s description of resisting the Holy Ghost I wonder what it would take for a member to entirely lose this gift given at baptism and confirmation.
At this point in my gospel understanding I’m suggesting that the gift of the Holy Ghost isn’t as fragile as we might suppose.
[1] Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges. Alma 10:6
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