By Sarah Bills
Students can find freedom in truth when it is founded in Jesus Christ, said Hal Heaton, a BYU professor of business management in the Marriott School of Management during Tuesday?s devotional.
With so many groups in the world who have identical facts but argue opposite sides of various issues, the question ?what is truth?? arises.
?The point is that truth is not just a set of facts,? Heaton said. ?Truth has something to do with your attitudes and philosophy and the way you have of looking at the world.?
The Savior indicates in the scriptures that his children must ?be of the truth? to hear His voice and follow him.
?You have to have the right attitude, value system, and be somehow ?of the truth? as the scripture describes, to understand truth,? he said.
Heaton read an excerpt from C.S. Lewis? ?Chronicles of Narnia.? In the story, a selfish little boy, who was transformed into a dragon, relates how he was only able to shed his scales and skin with the help of the Lion, represented by the Savior.
?To be ?of the truth? we must be clean,? Heaton said. ?To be clean, to shed our skins or sins, we must repent and repentance requires Christ. There is no other way.?
Without understanding this, truth and having only one right answer can be constraining, he said. Since two plus two equals four, individuals are not free to believe that it is five or 10 or 103.
?You can believe anything you want, but on the other hand, if you want to be free to build a rocket that is capable of flying to the moon, then you had better believe two plus two is four,? Heaton said. ?Without the terribly constraining nature of truth, we could not be free to do anything.?
The same principle is true for the gospel. Following the Honor Code or obeying various commandments may seem like anything but freedom, but God knows what will make his children happy, he said. He gives them commandments because he knows that it is only through following his rules that they will be free to achieve the greatest possible happiness and do what they really want to do.
Sometimes the Lord allows His children to experience difficult because there is no other way to understand truth, Heaton said.
?We have to go through pain to understand pain. But it is the gospel that will provide us with the right attitude and perspective to understand.?
