I take as inspiration for a short thought these words from D&C 46: “And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church. For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God” (D&C 46:10-11).
That phrase “ye should always remember” is a familiar one. It evokes the Sacrament prayers and gives what follows it a pretty high status in terms of gospel knowledge. There aren’t a lot of things we are expected to always keep present in our minds. Most things we are supposed to always remember are covenants and important commandments. So why this list of spiritual gifts? I can think of three reasons.
The first reason is so that we are not deceived by other kinds of spiritual manifestations. This is the most basic understanding of the list of spiritual gifts, but also maybe the one that sits the most strangely with our modern sensibilities. It emerges, however, from only a cursory read of the surrounding verses, particularly verses 7, 8, and 27. Part of the point of creating this list of spiritual gifts is to say this: if someone shows up claiming or displaying a gift not enumerated here, or “given unto the church” as verse 10 has it, this is a sign that they are not of God. Historical context around the reception of this revelation indicates that this was a problem at times in the early church, and maybe it will be a bigger issue again in the future. So, read this way, the point of always remembering these gifts is to have them always ready to easily judge whether a spiritual manifestation is from God.
A second way of interpreting the command to always remember the list of spiritual gifts is to take the Sacrament parallel to its natural conclusion. These gifts come through the mercy of God and Christ and are a key part of how we become the body of Christ on the earth. Thus, doing things in remembrance of the body of the Son may implicitly be asking us to remember the spiritual gifts and their manifestations among the members of this church. Under this reading, the baptismal covenant is actually what is being referenced here and the revelation is just making that link explicit. As spiritual gifts appear and we recognize them, we are drawn closer to the body of Christ and will always remember Him.
The third reason we might be commanded to always remember the spiritual gifts places a strong emphasis on part of verse 11: “to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God” (D&C 46:11). This approach recognizes that part of the reason there are so many different gifts is to force us to notice and rely on our neighbors. Gifts are intentionally scattered among us for us to find and rejoice in. Indeed, noticing the gifts in others and supporting the development of those gifts may be a very important way of loving our neighbor as ourselves. We may think of this commandment as mostly referring to helping those who are in trouble, good-Samaritan like, but the framing of noticing and developing spiritual gifts in others provides a way of approaching the second great commandment even in times of plenty and peace. And it is through this process of knowing and loving neighbors, recognizing and developing their gifts, that these gifts truly open up “that all may be benefited that seek or that ask” (D&C 46:9).