President Ezra Taft Benson counseled: "One of the most important things you can do . . . is to immerse yourselves in the scriptures. Search them diligently. Feast upon the words of Christ. Learn the doctrine. Master the principles that are found therein" ("The Power of the Word," Ensign, May 1986, 81).
PRINCIPLES ARE FOUND WITHIN DOCTRINE. (My thought based on President Benson’s statement above)
Elder Richard G. Scott, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated: "As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles. Carefully separate them from the detail used to explain them. Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances. It is worth great effort to organize the truth we gather to simple statements of principle" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 117; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, 86).
A principle is an enduring truth, law, or rule you can adopt to guide you in making decisions. Principles help us apply the doctrines of the gospel to everyday living. via Eternal Marriage Student Manual (Forward)
"Doctrine usually answers the question ‘Why?’ Principles usually answer the question ‘what?’"- Quentin L. Cook "Looking Beyond the Mark", March 2003 Ensign. P. 40-44
Talk at BYU by Bishop Ron Bartholomew – Example of the power of doctrine to change behavior.
Every week they would come and instead of Sunday School one week or priesthood and Relief Society the next, I would teach them about the Atonement. At the end of the four-week experience, not to my dismay—because I believe this, I understand it, I know it’s true—I had a flood of ward members who had to come and talk to me. About what? About a bunch of different things, not because I talked about any one of those things, but because they understood the doctrine of the Atonement better. Once they had a more accurate understanding of the doctrine of the Atonement, that changed their behavior. In the four-week course, we didn’t mention any particular sin, not even once.
. . .
Instead of focusing on the behavior you want changed, try to find the doctrine on which the behavior rests.