Light of Christ

From Mark:
In looking carefully at this talk, the emphasis on the Light of Christ might be a bit off from what you are intending to emphasize.

The scriptures refer to light in connection with Jesus Christ in two ways.

1) Light is used as an analogy for the Savior's blessings, guidance, and help in our lives. We see this use in the scripture you quote above ("I am the light and the life of the world") as well as others such as "Behold, I am the law, and the light, look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live" (3 Nephi 15:9); "The Lord is my light and my salvation" (Psalms 27:1); "Walk in the light of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:5); and "I will be a light unto them forever (2 Nephi 10:14), to name a few. Notice that all of these relate to Christ's example and the effect of His teachings and sacrifice in our life to bring light, or in other words, vision, understanding and divine help to the darkness of our lives, be they trials, sin, misunderstanding, or weakness.

You can find many examples of this meaning and use of the concept of light in the scriptures by looking under the topical guide heading "Jesus Christ, Light of the World"

2) The Light of Christ. This use most often refers to what you are quoting here - the divine energy or influence that proceeds from God through Christ that influences people for good and prepares them to receive the Holy Ghost.  As the gospel topic you are quoting goes on to indicate, this is often manifest in our conscience which gives all who a born a sense of right and wrong before they have the gift of the Holy Ghost. As the gospel topic describes, the light of Christ should not be confused with the Holy Ghost since it is not a personage as the Holy Ghost is. Rather its influence leads people to accept the gospel, be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.

While these two scriptural and doctrinal references to light are related in that they both are associated with Christ, they are disctinct enough that it is important to be clear about which we are talking about. When talking about the light of Christ, we are ususally talking about our connscience as mentioned above and usually talking about those who have revelation though this divine influence before they receive the Holy Ghost. Once we have receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost becomes the primary means through which the Lord sends revelation, direction and spiritual strength.

In this talk it seems to us like your intent is to speak of light in the first sense - the scriptural symbol describing how Christ is the solution to the darkness, challeges and weakness in our lives.

However, in the quote from Gospel Topics we take it a different direction - to talking about the light of Chist which is our conscience that prepares us for the gist of the Holy Ghost.  That emphasis seems to continue in the next title "How we can access the Light of Christ in our lives." Yet the majority of those you will be addressing are members of the Christ with the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it is through this greater means of receiving revelation and divine strength from the Lord that these Saints should be focused on seeking.

Becuase we are not quite sure which you are intending we have two recommended ways you might clarify your message.

If your intent is, as we are guessing, to emphasize that Christ can bring light, peace and hope to the darkness of our life, (as you outline so well in the next two paragraphs) then we would suggest deleting this highlighted entry from the Gospel topics that is more about what we commonly see as a person's conscience. If you desire, you could replace this portion with a further expanation of how Christ is the light which shineth in darkeness (perhaps by quoting one of the scriptures mentioned above, or you could expand upon how His true doctrine illuminated your path and helped you see clearly how to strengthen the relationship with your wife.  It would also be helpful to rephrase the title and first line of the paragraph that follows, since the reference to the Light of Christ might be misunderstood to mean what we refer to as our conscience.

You could change jsuta few words to point more to the use of the word light that symbolizes Christ truth, example, sacrifice, and blessings. For example you could title this "How can we receive more of Christ's light in our lives?" This sounds like almost the identical phrasing, but becaue the term "Light of Christ" is a specific term that most often equals "our conscience" this rephrasing will help those listening know that you are not speaking of that use of the term light.

You could also rephrase the first sentence along those same lines. For example, "Many of wonder how we can draw closer to Christ and receive His light as we navigate through...."

If on the other hand, your intention is to speak about the light of Christ, our consicence, which prepares us for the gift of the Holy Ghost, then perhaps it would be best to speak directly about the gift of the Holy Ghost, since the saints listening will all have this higher sacred gift of revelation throgh which God commnicates divine truth and guidance.

Again, looking at your whole talk, we are fairly certain you are emphasizing Christ as the the light of the world, and teaching about this beautiful symbol of how He can shines light into even the darkest moemnts in our lives if we turn to Him.

The could of small adjustements mentioned above should clarify what you mean and avoid listeners confusing this with the consicence which we everyone is blessed with as they come into the world.