“Trust No One to Be Your Teacher nor Your Minister Except He Be a Man of God”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

The care we take in the choice of a physician ought be nothing in comparison with the caution we take in the choice of those with whom we trust our eternal well-being. A wise father observed that he would rather trust his sheep to the care of a wolf than his children to a teacher who did not willingly keep the commandments of God. Jesus of Nazareth said it thus:

“Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

What then of those who offend the infant in things of faith? the spiritually insecure? or those who believe or trust too readily? It matters little to the harvest if those sowing tares with the wheat do so maliciously or in ignorance. Safety rests with allowing none to be our teachers or our spiritual leaders unless they be men and women of God.

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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