President Kimball discusses in this article the position that secular learning holds in relation to spiritual learning. I recommend reading it to gain a good perspective and also to be directed to some scriptures that deal with the subject of learning.
Spiritual learning, and the action that should go along with it, is the most important for each of us. It leads us to eternal life, and it also helps us to find joy and happiness in this life. We learn of God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. We can have the help of the Holy Ghost in all of our learning, both spiritual and secular, including how best to apply our learning to our day-to-day lives.
Spiritual learning helps us learn the self-control we need to live good lives and it also helps us in our relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. We learn absolute truths that guide us in deciding what to do in various situations, so that we are behaving ethically and know what we can do to serve others.
With spiritual learning taking first place and giving us a firm foundation, we can study the secular topics of the world: math, science, music, politics, history, and so forth. We learn how things work and how they fit together. The more we learn about the earth and everything on it and in it, the better we will know how to be good stewards of the earth. The more we learn about the countries and peoples of the earth, the better we will know how to help them and how to view the political decisions we come to in our country--what is good and what is not.
Secular learning also helps us to find and develop our talents and share them with others. We also gain a greater appreciation of the talents and abilities of others.
Spiritual learning gives a necessary perspective concerning our relationships with ourselves and with others and with God. Supplemented with secular learning which gives us much practical knowledge, we can live a good life indeed.
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