The above video is a clip from an amazing speech given by Elder Larry Lawrence at BYUI two years ago.  You can read and listen to the whole thing here. I remember the exact time and place I was when I first heard it.  I was walking in the searing St. George heat on a summer morning, marveling with joy over how amazing this talk is. Reading about spiritual gifts recently in the New Testament reminded me of it. I absolutely love the talk! I love how he reminds us that Moroni tells us in the Book of Mormon that we are to hold on every good gift. (See Moroni 10:30) Paul tells in Corinthians that we are to “covet earnestly the best gifts.” (See 1 Corinthians 12:31)

So are to ask for gifts from God. I looked up the word “gift” in Hebrew. The word for it is “natan.” In the ancient Hebrew pictograms which correspond to the Hebrew letters, the word is represented by the following picture symbols:

(sprouting seed) (cross) (sprouting seed)

In turn, those pictures symbolize:

(new life/heir/son) (sign, signal or covenant) (new life/heir/son)

So in other words, a gift is a true gift if it involves new life, which ultimately comes from Jesus,  as well as a covenant, and more new life or inheritance. God the Father embodies that word by giving us the covenant of the gospel in the form of His son, Jesus Christ, His greatest gift, so that we can inherit eternal life. Wow!

It makes sense then that the word “give” in Hebrew also involves the same letters . So we can’t truly give unless we are giving some kind of new life which comes from the Son, to someone, so they can receive covenants and inherit as an heir all that God has.

Here is a video from my Veggie Gal friend Becky Edwards sharing what she learned about spiritual gifts from Elder Lawrence’s talk. Enjoy!