"Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly"

45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. 

46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. - (D&C 121:45-46)

Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants is one of my favorite chapters of scripture. It is exceptionally clear and direct. Lately I've thought a lot about this phrase: "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly." I think this is one of the most difficult commandments given to us, with some of the greatest blessings promised.

This is one of the most difficult challenges offered in scripture, followed by some of the choicest blessings. You could re-organize it like this:

Commandments

 - Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith.
 - Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.

Blessings

 - Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.
 - The doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
 - The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.
 - Thy scepter (shall be) an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth.
 - Thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

An immature approach to following the commandments is to wonder how much you can get away with and still be okay in the Lord's eyes. I think this is the natural approach for almost all people: commandments tell us what to do, including things not to do, so we should test the limits of how much we actually have to obey.

If we are going to let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we are going to need to keep all immoral thoughts from our minds at all times. In other words, we cannot have this spiritually immature attitude of pushing morality as far as we can. We need to keep ourselves clean, even in our thoughts known only to us and God. As I write that, I must acknowledge that I have a long way to go to keep this commandment, but the blessings are powerful.

To me, it is obvious why someone who is virtuous, even in her or his thoughts, would be more comfortable in the presence of God, understand His doctrine more fully, and feel the Holy Ghost more readily. All of these things seem more comfortable in a pure mind. The last two blessings seem less obvious; I know that I am more comfortable with having a pure-minded ruler who loves completely.

As a father, the idea that my family - one application of dominion - flows unto me forever and ever without compulsion sounds more like heaven than perhaps anything else. I believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that They love us.