Applying the Scriptures to Our Lives

The authors of the Book of Mormon were not writing for themselves, they were writing for their descendants. They were writing for us. I don't write in my journal so that I can read it (although I have looked back on it a couple of times), I write it so that my children and grandchildren can know what I went through and what the process is so that they can learn from similar experiences. This is the same thing for the scriptures. We need to apply the teachings from the Book of Mormon into our lives, we need to have faith and act on these principles.
What does this look like? For me, this means that I am constantly thinking about the scriptures. I ponder what I read and make goals based on what I have studied. This last week I read the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi. It doesn't do me any good to read it and then move on in my life. When I read about the latter-day churches, I learned about how the adversary tries to trick us. Satan is the father of contention, he loves to see us getting in arguments. He also tries to entice us with flattery and "you only live once" principles. Now that I have learned this, what do I do with it? I made a goal to pay special attention to my thoughts this weekend. When I do make mistakes, I will look back on them and try to recognize how Satan was tempting me. When we learn how Satan is tempting us, we are able to stay away from that temptation.
I'm not perfect with this. There are definitely some times that I read my scriptures and then forget about it. But, as we have the faith to apply these principles, it will be easier and easier to keep applying them. Living the gospel takes practice. It takes trial and error, it takes faith to act. The greatest thing about the gospel is that we know that the Lord does not give up on us, He stays with us and helps us. He allowed Christ to perform the atonement and because of that, we do not have to suffer alone. Christ went through everything we do.
The authors of the Book of Mormon went through a lot of trouble to get these scriptures to us. We need to read them often. And if we are already reading them, we need to study them. If we are already studying them, we need to apply them.