Teach the Principles of my Gospel

This past week I studied Elder Bednar's most recent general conference talk entitled The Principles of my Gospel.  I noticed that the title of his talk was based on a scripture found in the Come, Follow Me study for this week. D&C 42:12 states "And again, the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fullness of my gospel." The Come, Follow Me manual also suggested to search these sections (41-44) for some of the principles that the Lord uses to guide His church. Here's a list of principles that I found:

• Principle of hearken and hear the Lord (41:1, 43:1,17)
• Principle of assembling together (41:2, 43:8)
• Principle of urgency (41:4, 43:17-18)
• Principle of fulfilling commitments (41:5)
• Principle of missionary work (42: 4-9, 11-17, 56-58)
• Principle of order (42:11)
• Principle of teaching (42:12-15)
• Principle of controlling our behaviors (42: 18-29)
• Principle of consecration/caring for the poor (42: 30-35)
• Principle of stewardship (42:32, 70)
• Principle of simplicity (42:40)
• Principle of work/self-reliance (42:42)
• Principle of faith in the healing process (42: 43-52)
• Principle of unity (42:45)
• Principle of receiving personal revelation (42:61,68)
• Principle of obedience to laws (42:79-87, 43:35)
• Principle of reconciliation (42:88)
• Principle of prophets receiving revelation for the church (43:2-7)
• Principle of instructing and edifying each other (43:8)
• Principle of sanctification (43:11, 16)
• Principle of repentance (43:11, 21-22)
• Principle of teaching by the Spirit (43:15)
• Principle of preparation (43:20)
• Principle of compassion (44:6)

Joseph Smith said "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." It's empowering to know that as we teach correct principles the Spirit can then guide and direct individuals through personal revelation. We can act on this revelation to change and make improvements that the Lord would have us make. Additionally, as we understand that everyone can receive revelation about the changes they need to make in their own lives, we learn to be less judgmental. We don't need to compare the changes that we are making to what others are doing. We can trust that everyone is governing themselves according to the principles they've been taught and how the Spirit is inspiring them to live.