The Nelson Challenge: Tongue of Angels

I've been following President Nelson's challenge to study the words, actions, doctrines, prophecies, and commandments of Christ every week. Here is something I studied recently.

Lesson #2

Messengers in Christ's empty tomb.

2 Nephi 31:13, which continues to explain the Doctrine of Christ (the gift of the Holy Ghost, in particular), declares that "ye shall receive the Holy Ghost...and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels." The next verse refers to the tongue of angels as "a new tongue." So what does that mean? What exactly is the tongue of angels, and how does it fit into the bigger picture of the Doctrine of Christ?

2 Nephi 32:3 clarifies that "angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore they speak the words of Christ." So maybe the tongue of angels means that our words are directed to the hearts of the listeners, like the promptings of the Holy Ghost. To speak to someone's heart or feelings, you must know their heart. Sometimes that means that we can empathize or we have had similar feelings. But we are not perfect empathizers; we have finite mortal minds. God still knows all and Christ has felt all feelings and the Spirit thus empowers us to speak to the heart even when we personally don't understand. It is enough that Christ understands, and we can simply speak his words.

I also like the end of this verse: "wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ." Having the gift of the Holy Ghost does not automatically allow us to speak the words of Christ. We must contribute by studying the words of Christ. We need to give the Spirit material to work with. If the doctrine and wording and love of the Savior's teachings are always in our minds, it will be so much easier to share his words with others.

So, the content of the tongue of angels is the words of Christ. What about the delivery? In a regional conference a few years ago, President Nelson himself shared that angels are messengers. Think of every instance of an angel in the scriptures: that personage was there to share a message. Who else would like to share a brief message with you? The missionaries! It follows, then, that one way to speak the tongue of angels is to spread the gospel through missionary work. Of course, Preach My Gospel has much to offer by way of instruction. Perhaps it is truly a manual on speaking "a new tongue."

Lastly, as far as my study went, I turned to Elder Holland's conference address, "Tongue of Angels." In this talk, he defined the tongue of angels as speaking with faith, hope, and charity. This kind of speech encourages and uplifts the listener. It is not biting or fiery but is bridled and sacred. I imagine that this speech requires a lot of thinking beforehand, probably even prayer so that the words are spoken with care and love. We are to be gentle and humble in our speaking. Similarly, the Savior speaks peace. The voice of the Spirit is still and small. We can learn a lot about divine speaking from their examples.

This study has made me think about my own speaking. Do I speak with the tongue of angels, or am I living below my privilege? How could I better bridle and temper my speech? Here is my plan to revise my actions:

1. Continue President Nelson's challenge and feast on the words of Christ.
2. Pray (when possible) before difficult or significant encounters, like sharing the gospel or working at the temple.
3. Listen to the Spirit when talking to someone one-on-one.
4. Be generous and honest with compliments.
5. Speak up to people and not down to them. In other words, speak to them as the gods and goddesses that their spirits are. As C.S. Lewis said, "the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship."