A Mighty Change of Heart

What does this mean, a mighty change of heart?  Is it when you go to the hospital and replace your heart with another one?  Or are we talking figuratively?  What will a mighty change of heart do for us?  How do we go about getting a mighty change of heart?  Do we only need to do this once in our lives?  These are some of the questions that I will attempt to answer this morning.

A mighty change of heart.  This implies that something needs to change.  Could it be that our thinking processes need to change?  or, is it the way we feel about life?  Aren't we okay as we are?

Many of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are converts.  We obviously thought that there was more to life than what our parents and those around us taught us.  We wanted to be closer to God and have God in our lives the same way that the prophets of Old Testament times and the apostles of New Testament times did.  They gave us examples that most people thought impossible to live because technology had gone much further than the prophets and apostles lived with.  We have more free time because our work days are now 35 to 40 hours long instead of from when the sun rises to when the sun sets.  We have more wealth than our ancestors who struggled to feed and clothe their families.  We can travel faster and farther in a day than our ancestors with either their horses or their own two feet.  Yes, our lives have more efficient tools, more education, and more recreation than our ancestors ever dreamed of.  We have a tendency to spoil our children by giving them almost everything they want. And, when we do this, we wonder why they don't appreciate the sacrifices that we make for them.

Do we ever think to thank Heavenly Father for the blessings of being born into the world at this time?  We know that because of the way we've grow up, we would find day to day living very hard if we were suddenly transported back in time to 200 years ago.  Some of us would find it difficult to live the way life was even just 50 years ago.  We depend on all the conveniences that we have acquired over the years.  I admit that I am extremely hooked on my laptop and being able to find the information that I want on the internet.  I seriously think that I wouldn't know what to do with myself without the internet.

So, back to the mighty change in heart.  As I mentioned earlier, we chose to join this Church because we saw that we had the opportunity of living a life that is close to Heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  We were baptised and expected to feel differently right away.  We learned that we need to learn line upon line, precept upon precept.  We grew to our present level of understanding bit by bit.  We should be continuing to learn until the day we go home to Heavenly Father.

When I mentioned that we are converts, I think about the conversion process.  We had to learn the First Principles of the Gospel before we could make any informed decision about whether we wanted any part of it.  The missionaries that taught us gave us the information that we required.  We had to learn about the worldly sacrifices that we needed to make.  We felt that the Church was important enough to make these sacrifices.  We learned about the temporal laws.  We agreed with the principles because we may have previously come across them in the scriptures and questioned why did our parents not follow them.  We knew that we needed the Church and its teachings in our lives in order to live the life that we wanted.

Then came the day when we actually joined the Church, the day of our baptism.  We began to follow what the scriptures had been teaching us that our world was not following.  We began our conversion process.  We began to have a "Mighty Change of Heart".  We began to live a life that was in accordance with the teachings of the prophets and apostles. 

We also learned that there was more to the "Mighty Change of Heart".  We began to change our attitudes with regards to the spiritual laws, and repent of the things that we had been doing which we shouldn't be doing.  We had learned right from wrong while growing up, but also learned about the different shades of gray.  If it's right, it's right.  If it's wrong, it's wrong.  We needed to learn to have this in our lives.  Most of us still have some problems with this and how to cope with it.  This is where repentance comes in.  Because we are striving to become a God-like people, when we make a mistake, we begin to feel like we can't do it.  We are supposed to be good.  But our Saviour has told us that He will help us.  All that he expects of us is that we do our best.  Not our second best, but our best.  He will help us to succeed.  All we need to do in return is do our best, and realize that He is helping us and to be grateful that we have the help that we need.  This is the way that we become converted.

In 2013, I went to see the movie "Les Miserables" with a friend.  At the beginning of this movie, one of the main characters, Jean Valjean, had been convicted for stealing a loaf of bread because his nephew was starving.  He ended up serving time for 19 years and turned into a very bitter man.  Upon his release, his paperwork stated that he was dangerous and not to be trusted.  Near the beginning of the movie, Jean Valjean experienced prejudice against him because of the notations on his paperwork and was blessed to be able to spend the night in a religious institution.  He repaid the hospitality given him by stealing the silver.  When Jean Valjean was caught and taken back to the church, the priest told the officials that he had given Jean the silver and added two more pieces to the things already taken.  Jean was set free.  The priest gave him the silver on the condition that he make something of his life.

Because Jean was given a chance to improve his life by the priest, he felt obligated to do so.  He raised money from the silver and kept a couple pieces for a reminder.  He used the money wisely, and helped others so that they would not end up in the same circumstances that he found himself in at the beginning of the movie.

In this story, we can relate it to the Gospel.  Jean had sinned when he had stolen the bread.  At the time, he had thought that he would not have to worry about such a little matter, but the punishment lasted years.  When we sin against God and our fellow man, we could be paying for it throughout eternity.  For God cannot have any unclean thing in His presence.  The little things are the things that will condemn many of us.  This list includes dishonest, selfishness, pride, anger, impure thoughts, and disobedience among other things.

When the priest supported Jean Valjean in his claim that he was given the silver, it made Jean think.  It made him realize just what he was doing.  It made him realize what kind of life that he was about to embark on after being in prison for so long.  And it also made him realize why he was doing this.  Jean had hated the situation that put him into prison.  Even more, he hated the guards and the system that he thought condemned him by blowing the situation out of context and forcing him into a life that he did not want to live.  The silver gave him a chance to think about what to do.  He changed his name and destroyed the paperwork that was destroying any chance of an honest life. 

When Jesus Christ worked out the Atonement for us in Gethsemane, He gave us the chance to have the type of life that we look forward to for the eternities.  He gave us the chance to return to our Father in Heaven.  The only thing that he requires from us is that we accept Him as our Saviour, take His name upon us and obey His commandments.  He has given us the chance to think about our eternal lives and how we want to live them.  He has given us the opportunity to take a look at the direction that our lives were taking without the Gospel and why we were doing what we were doing.  The Atonement that Christ provided for us gives us the opportunity to change the direction that our mortal lives are going so that we will be able to live the eternal life that we want.

When Jean Valjean made his decision to use the silver in the way that the priest wanted him to use it, it changed his outlook on life.  He became a man who sought to help others, to care about the conditions that they were forced to live in, and to deal with those he helped with fairness.  He had a "Mighty Change of Heart".  He took his hatred and changed it into something that would benefit not only himself but others, too.

When we were baptised and confirmed members of the Church, we started on the road to increasing our faith and developing our testimonies.  We changed our lives so that not only we benefited from the change, but others also benefited through the service that we perform.  Those of us who learned to give service to help others rather than what we would gain from it also experienced a "Mighty Change of Heart".

Should we only experience one "Mighty Change of Heart"?  Did Jean Valjean experience only one "Mighty Change of Heart"?  The answer to both questions is no.

Jean Valjean became concerned and distracted when it looked like his past caught up to him.  He thought that the police official was in his office to arrest him.  However, the official did not fully recognize him until Jean helped free a man who had been trapped under his wagon.  Jean learned that a vagrant had been arrested and accused of being Jean Valjean and was about to be sent to prison for failing to keep his probation.  Jean worried about the situation, because if he gave himself up, his employees would lose their jobs and their incomes, but if he didn't, the man would lose his life.  Jean wanted the truth to come out, not only about the life that he was leading but also about the length of time that he served for what he thought was a small matter.

During this time of distraction, one of his employees was let go because she wanted to keep her modesty.  Because she was let go, she ended up in a situation that was not good.  She had a daughter whose life was at stake and she tried to make good choices but was finally convinced to make a bad choice, one that she paid for with her life.  Jean tried to rectify the problem by providing medical care and then promised her that he would look after her daughter.  Only when Jean took guardianship of the girl, did he learn to love.  He developed this love because the girl was dependent on him for love and support.  Jean had another "Mighty Change of Heart".  He learned to love.

As we go through our lives, we have the things that we need to sustain us.  We have the Gospel in our lives.  But do we live the Gospel fully?  Have we learned to love as the Saviour loves us?  Do we go out of our way to help others that desperately need our help?  Do we pray, study our scriptures, attend our meetings, and do all the things that the prophets have taught us?  Do we honestly try to become more Christ-like?

We are taught that we must endure to the end.  If we do not progress in our learning after our baptism and confirmation, are we enduring to the end?  The Gospel has principles that we need to learn about and to learn to incorporate into our lives.  These principles will replace the principles that Satan would have us follow.  These principles will teach us to love not only Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but each other as well. 

It may be hard to learn the things that we need to learn, but we have the time.  The best way to learn is "line upon line and precept upon precept".  We will not be able to master all of the principles at the same time.  This learning will take time.  That is why we have been given this time for our mortal lives.  This is where we can make our mistakes.

Because we have been baptised does not mean that we cannot sin.  We are not a perfect people, yet.  We will still make our mistakes and we will still commit sins.  However, we have been given a gift through the Atonement.  We have the opportunity to repent when we make our mistakes and commit our sins.  We have the opportunity of confessing our sins to the Lord and others if necessary and redressing the wrong that we have done to others, by restitution if possible.  Often, we will remember what we have done.  The scriptures do not teach us that we will forget our sins, but they teach us that the Lord will forget our sins if we repent.  Sometimes, the Lord will have us remember what we have done so that we learn to avoid doing it again.  Once we have learned our lesson, the memory will fade.

As we increase our faith in Jesus Christ, we learn to accept His will.  We learn to trust that the Lord knows what is good for us and what we need to help us to grow spiritually.  We may think that we do, but as time passes by, we realize that we know nothing of the kind.  Life was not meant to be easy.  We often learn the most when we have challenges to overcome.  It is our challenges that help us grow and develop in the way that we are meant to develop.  If we use these challenges in a positive way, we will grow closer to the Lord.  Rather than thinking of them as challenges, we can think of them as opportunities.  As we grow closer to the Lord, our hearts will change in ways that will be phenomenal.  Only as we look back on our lives will we be able to see how far we have come.  Only the Lord knows how far we need to go yet.

If we will follow the Lord and do his will, we will be blessed and our children and posterity will also be blessed.  We will become humble, confident, eager to please God, grow in the capacity of love for Christ, others and ourselves, and become a Christ-like people.  We will have more "Mighty Changes in Heart" throughout our lives as we do the things that we should be doing in the manner and attitude that we need to have.  After all, once in the Celestial Kingdom, we will have great works to do.  We need to prepare for the eternities by following the Gospel in our mortal lives.

Let us let the Lord perform the operation of replacing our hearts of stone for hearts of flesh.  Let us keep our hearts of flesh healthy by assessing them periodically to be sure that we are on the right path and that we continue to grow in the Gospel and in the love of Christ.  Let us endure to the end so that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.

Will we be like Jean Valjean and have numerous "Mighty Changes of Heart" as we live our mortal lives or will we not grow but stagnate instead?