You will find peace and happiness if you will live the gospel.

In the gentle yet resolute voice of a prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley once declared: “You will find peace and happiness if you will live the gospel.” Though the words are simple, they flow with the power of eternal truth — a truth known to saints, sages, and seekers throughout the ages. For what is this gospel, if not the divine pattern of life — a law of love, humility, service, and faith? And what is peace, if not the quiet assurance that one’s life is aligned with eternal purpose? In this sacred promise, Hinckley speaks not as a man of doctrine alone, but as a shepherd calling his flock to harmony with heaven and with themselves.

To the ancients, peace was not mere stillness, nor happiness a fleeting pleasure. True peace, they taught, was the tranquility of the soul when it walked in accord with virtue and divine order. The philosophers of old — Socrates, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius — each sought it through reason and virtue. But Hinckley, a servant of God, declared that it is through living the gospel, through aligning one’s heart with divine will, that man may find not only wisdom but joy. The gospel’s call to faith, repentance, kindness, and gratitude is not a chain, but a liberation — freeing the spirit from the bondage of pride and selfishness, and restoring it to the peace from which it came.

Peace and happiness are not treasures to be seized by force; they are the quiet fruits of obedience and integrity. To live the gospel is to live a life of light — to forgive rather than to hate, to serve rather than to seek dominion, to trust rather than to despair. When a man walks thus, his conscience is clear, and his heart is still. The storms of the world may rage, but within him there is calm. He no longer measures worth by wealth or power, but by the love he gives and the truth he follows. And in that inner stillness, he discovers that peace is not something found without, but something awakened within.

Consider the example of Corrie ten Boom, a humble woman who, during the darkness of the Second World War, hid Jewish families from persecution. She and her family were captured and sent to the horrors of a concentration camp. Yet even there, surrounded by death and cruelty, she held to her faith in Christ. When the war ended, she forgave her captors. She once wrote, “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate.” Though her body suffered, her spirit remained free. Through living the gospel, she found a peace deeper than suffering — a joy untouched by circumstance. Her life was the living proof of Hinckley’s promise.

The gospel does not shield one from trials, but it transforms them. To live it is to find meaning in adversity, hope in hardship, and strength in humility. The man who lives by its precepts does not avoid sorrow, but he walks through it with grace, knowing that pain is but the sculptor that refines the soul. Hinckley himself, through years of leadership, carried the burdens of others, faced criticism, and endured the weariness of great responsibility. Yet those who knew him described a lightness, a laughter, a peace that never faded. It was the fruit of his faith — the calm certainty that all would be well, for God governs all things.

This teaching calls to every generation: if you seek peace, live in truth; if you desire happiness, live in love. Read the scriptures, forgive those who have wronged you, serve those in need, and pray with a sincere heart. For every act of kindness, every humble prayer, every effort to follow divine counsel brings the soul closer to its true home — the heart of God. And there, in that nearness, lies the happiness the world cannot give and cannot take away.

Let this lesson be written upon the heart: the world promises joy through wealth, fame, and indulgence, but its pleasures are shadows that vanish with time. The gospel offers joy through faith, service, and obedience — and its light endures forever. The man who lives it will find that peace does not come from circumstance, but from character; that happiness is not bought, but born; and that no darkness can overcome the soul that walks in divine truth.

Thus, the teaching concludes: Gordon B. Hinckley’s words are not a command, but an invitation — to walk in light, to live with purpose, to trust in God. For when one lives the gospel, life itself becomes a hymn of gratitude, and the heart, once restless, finds its eternal rest. This is the path of all who seek not only to live well, but to live wisely — for in the living of the gospel, one finds not only salvation, but the quiet, abiding peace and happiness that are the marks of a soul at one with Heaven.