(President Gordon B. Hinckley, April 2007 General Conference)
Read the full talk →
Excerpt:
President Hinckley’s counsel reaches across time: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.” The promise that follows is profound—“The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.” These are not poetic lines; they are spiritual laws. Virtue invites confidence, and confidence invites the Spirit.
When I listened to this talk again—over fifty times between last night and this morning—the Spirit emphasized one word: virtue.
What is virtue?
Virtue means to fill your mind with morally clean, righteous, and excellent thoughts until goodness becomes your reflex. To garnish is to equip or arm your thoughts, so when fear, doubt, or temptation step onto the stage of your mind, they find no audience. We control the stage. We choose which act plays. As I sat inside the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, I realized: darkness never conquers light that is armed with virtue.
President Hinckley connected virtue to a simple, practical four-point program—a pattern that turns righteousness into rhythm:
- Pray.
Prayer is the bridge to our Heavenly Father. “Speak with Him,” President Hinckley said. “Express the gratitude of your heart.” Prayer is not repetition—it is relationship. It invites light to dwell where confusion once lived. - Study.
“Resolve now that you will get all the education you can.” The glory of God is intelligence. I remember my own pursuit—working full-time in IT while carrying a full course load at LACC and DeVry. It was exhausting, but education was revelation in motion. To study is to worship with the mind. - Pay Tithing.
“Glorious is the promise of the Lord concerning those who pay their tithes.” Temporal faith builds spiritual independence. Each tithe is a declaration that God’s economy governs my heart more than the world’s uncertainty. - Attend Your Meetings.
There is no substitute for partaking of the sacrament. Sunday worship keeps us anchored when weekday storms rise. It renews the covenant that allows virtue to flow back into thought and action.
President Hinckley’s bridge between virtue and the four-point program is clear once you live it: each step disciplines the mind and purifies the heart.
Prayer keeps thoughts upward.
Study keeps them expanding.
Tithing keeps them consecrated.
Worship keeps them renewed.
Together, they garnish the mind with virtue—unceasingly.
He promised, “Each of you is a creature of Divinity. You are literally a daughter or son of the Almighty. There is no limit to your potential. If you will take control of your lives, the future is filled with opportunity and gladness.”
As I waited outside the Oquirrh Temple for the waxing gibbous moon to rise above the spire, I thought of those words. The moon appeared quietly, reflecting light it does not create—just as we reflect heaven’s virtue when we live this four-point pattern.
Final Reflection:
Virtue is not perfection—it is direction. It is the steady alignment of thought toward holiness until confidence replaces fear. In that light, President Hinckley’s four steps are not separate commandments; they are one continuous motion toward the presence of God.
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