Elder Dale G. Renlund Of the Seventy gave a beautiful talk on the mighty change of heart. He compared the spiritual change we go through to that of a heart transplant. He said, "Enduring to the end can be challenging because the tendency of the natural man is to reject the spiritually changed heart and allow it to harden. No wonder the Lord cautioned to “even let those who are sanctified take heed.”
What a wonderful talk to inspire us all. Even the sanctified need to take heed to preserve this mighty change of heart. He spoke of this example in the Book of Mormon, "The lives of the people who were converted by the preaching of the sons of Mosiah offer some insights as to how one avoids rejecting the mightily changed spiritual heart. Of them, we read that “as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, . . . and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away."
"How did they successfully endure to the end? We know that they were “distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.”
"Their zeal towards God likely reflects an eagerness to please God and worship Him with fervor and passion. Their zeal towards men suggests an ardent interest in helping and serving others. Being perfectly upright and honest in all things suggests that they held their covenants firmly and did not rationalize their commitments to God or man. We further know that they taught their children the gospel in their homes. We know that they buried their weapons of war, distancing themselves from temptations.
"They must have frequently assessed the condition of their spiritually changed hearts. They did not simply assume that all was well. By figuratively examining their changed hearts, they could identify any early hardening or rejection and treat it."
I love these wonderful examples that teach us all how to keep our changed heart pure. Today in Gospel Doctrine we learned a little more about covenants. The thing that particularly stood out to me were that we do not just make covenants for ourselves. Just as we read that these great people made covenants and held true to them, we learn from that example. We too, make covenants for our posterity. So that they may learn and be blessed. But this is just one of the things we need to do to preserve that mighty change of heart.
Elder Renlund said, "To endure to the end, we need to be eager to please God and worship Him with fervor and passion. This means that we maintain faith in Jesus Christ by praying, studying the scriptures, partaking of the sacrament each week, and having the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. We need to actively help and serve others and share the gospel with them. We need to be perfectly upright and honest in all things, never compromising our covenants with God or our commitments to men, regardless of circumstances. In our homes we need to talk of, rejoice in, and preach of Christ so that our children—and we ourselves—will desire to apply the Atonement in our lives. We must identify temptations that easily beset us and put them out of reach—way out of reach. Finally, we need to frequently biopsy our mightily changed hearts and reverse any signs of early rejection.
It is my hope and prayer that I, and those I hold close will do everything necessary to preserve the mighty change of heart.
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