As Christ works a mighty change of heart in us, we start to view everything and everyone differently. I am finding that when I can see people more as God sees them, it feels natural to treat them as God would have me treat them. As of now my ability to see in this way is not constant, but I have hope that it will become more consistent as I continue to invite Christ to remodel my heart and enlighten my eyes a little each day.
One thing I see with clarity is that our Heavenly Father always sees us as His family. His relationship to us as our Father transcends the relationship of an employer to an employee or a king to his subjects. We may talk about being children of God and call each other brother or sister, but I do not think we fully comprehend that truth, and we often forget what we do understand of it. Or at least I do. But our Heavenly Father and our big brother Jesus Christ never forget those family bonds. In the scriptures They repeatedly remind us of our relationship with Them and with each other. Jesus taught, “all ye are brethren . . . for one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Matthew 23:8-9). Paul reminded us of Jesus’ relationship to us when he stated, “for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11).
As we come closer to God our awareness of our divine family relationships will flavor all of our interactions with others. God taught the Israelites that they should not harden their hearts against any of their poor brethren within the land, and to withhold what those brethren needed was a sin (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). He commanded that their king should study God’s word each day of his life so his heart “be not lifted up above his brethren” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). The Lord gave a similar commandment to the Nephites, saying, “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you” (Jacob 2:17). The Lord chose to describe the work of His church in family terms when He commanded Peter, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).
It is difficult to think of our brethren and sisters ‘like unto ourselves’ when there are obvious differences between us. Some are undeniably more or less intelligent, righteous, or blessed than we are. My experiences as a mother help me understand this commandment. In the past few months my 11 year old son has been allowing his 2 year old brother to come into his room so they can play with Legos together. My older son is obviously more capable than my younger son, and his creations are much more impressive. But I do not love my older son more because his current capacity is greater. I know that my 2 year old will eventually be 11 years old and will create complex Lego spaceships and forts of his own. I also trust that eventually both of them will become adults with the ability to create things of far more significance than arrangements of plastic blocks. I just feel delighted that they are playing nicely and growing together in love. I expect my older son to help his younger brother along, and I expect my younger son to be grateful for the help.
Our Heavenly Father already loves us completely and already sees our infinite potential through Christ’s merits, mercy and grace (2 Nephi 2:8). He knows that eternity will provide plenty of time for all of His children to reach that potential as long as we choose to do the work of growing in light and truth (Proverbs 4:18, D&C 50:24). He assigns those who are farther along to help their brethren and sisters who are coming behind, and He expects us all to be grateful for the help we receive from Him and from each other. Because of my experiences as a parent, I understand that God delights when we play nicely and grow together in love, and He weeps over His children who hate each other instead (Moses 7:28-33).
Understanding and acting on our relationships as brothers and sisters in God’s family is crucial to our progress in the gospel. John taught that he who hates his brother is in darkness, while he who loves his brother abideth in the light (1 John 2:8-9). He further stated that a man who says he loves God but hates his brother is a liar (1 John 4:20). To know God and Jesus Christ is life eternal (John 17:3), and we are promised that those who abound in divine traits, including brotherly kindness, will be fruitful in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:7-8). I find these scriptures fulfilled in my experiences, for life does seem dark when I am feeling enmity toward another person. When I remember to pray for help to love God and others (those 2 great commandments in Matthew 22:36-40), there is light in my heart and I come to know Christ better.
Even as we respect positions of authority, obey the counsel of the Lord’s chosen leaders, and feel deep gratitude for the sacrifices that good leaders make to serve us; that respect, obedience and gratitude should be suffused with a feeling of brotherly love. I find a quiet joy in remembering that all the people I admire most are actually my sisters and brothers in God's family, and we loved each other before this life. As we lead, teach, and nurture those who are following behind us, we can esteem them like unto ourselves because we know that through the grace of Christ they can reach our current level of progress and continue on toward Christ’s perfection. An attitude of brotherly love overcomes feelings of intimidation by or condescension toward others. As children of God we all just need to commit to the work of growing in the light of the Son of God, and then Jesus promises He can get us all the way to the finish line.
We are all on the same team because we are all family. What a marvelous sense of love and belonging we feel when we remember that God claims each of us as His children and that we are surrounded by brothers and sisters. The delight I feel as a parent when my children love each other is a reflection of the delight our Heavenly Father feels when we treat His children with brotherly love. We should be cheering everyone toward the finish line – regardless of whether they make it there before or after us, at the beginning or at the very last – because heaven is going to be a more joyful place if more of the family makes it there together.
August 19, 2014
June 4, 2014
Change of Heart, Change of View
In recent months I have been pondering about how our vision is affected by the change of heart that Christ works in us as we make and keep covenants with Him (Ezekiel 36:26, Alma 5:14). We see the connection between a new heart and a new view in the story of Enoch and the city of Zion. As Enoch and his city grew in righteousness, they began to see what and Who they could not see before. God came to walk with Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and dwell with His people in Zion (Moses 7:16). These people received the change of heart that Ezekiel described as being given “one heart” (Ezekiel 11:19-20), for “the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). Eventually they were taken up to heaven “and the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever” (Moses 7:21). They experienced a profound change of view.
The story of Samson underscores how our vision is affected by breaking the covenants we have made with God. Despite his acceptance of the Nazarite covenant whereby Samson separated himself unto the Lord (Numbers 6:2), Samson was not true to God. He used his great strength in pursuit of his own vain ambitions (Judges 14-16) and arrogantly flirted with danger until he was finally brought down by his enemies. They put out his eyes shortly before his tragic death. His experience corresponds to the loss of spiritual sight that occurs when we reject God’s covenants.
These stories demonstrate in a dramatic way the increase or decrease in our capacity for Spirit-enhanced vision, or discernment, that comes based on our response to covenants with the Lord. We invite the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion through keeping our baptismal covenant to always remember Jesus, be willing to take upon us His name and keep His commandments (D&C 20:77, 79). Then the Spirit enables us to see everything and everyone around us more as God sees them, “for the Spirit . . . speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly” (Jacob 4:13). We also receive the heart-changing power of Christ’s Atonement through the Spirit (Mosiah 3:19). Even greater blessings pour out of the Atonement and flow into our lives through the Spirit as we make and keep covenants with the Lord in His temples.
As I invite Jesus Christ to change my heart by keeping the covenants I have made with Him, I am experiencing the change in perspective as well. I find it easier to be humble as the Lord shows me my weakness (Ether 12:27) and because I see with greater clarity that opportunities and talents are gifts from Him (James 1:17, Moroni 10:3, 18). I perceive that in the past my thinking has sometimes been influenced by ideas that are not true, like the idea that worldly prominence equates with importance. This error is especially damaging to mothers, since much of our work is accomplished without worldly fanfare and yet it has great importance in God’s plan for His children. I am coming to see how my labors as a mother encompass much more than fulfilling my children’s physical needs. I recognize that God has assigned me the responsibility to introduce them to and nurture their capacity to feel His love, upon which love the entire gospel rests (Matthew 22:36-40).
Some time ago I was reading in Doctrine & Covenants 93 where Christ promises that “every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1). While recognizing that God answers such prayers in His own time and way (D&C 88:68), I decided to be bold in exercising my faith and pray to have that promise fulfilled in my life. As I continued to ponder about it over a period of weeks, the inspiration came that of greater worth than a vision of His physical features would be to see, know and comprehend Christ’s love. This ability to really understand charity – both Christ’s love for us and what our love must be for Him and for our neighbors – is the highest expression of spiritual sight, and it enables us to fulfill the two great commandments (Matthew 22:36-40). It leads us to view each person as having the greatest worth because of their status as children of God with infinite potential through Christ’s grace (Moroni 10:32, 2 Nephi 25:23), regardless of their current accomplishments or rank. Eventually this vision or knowledge of Christ’s character will lead us to God’s greatest blessings, for “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3).
As I grow in the knowledge of Christ’s character, I have greater spiritual sight to perceive my children as the Lord sees them. I have one daughter who is especially feisty, which is difficult for me to manage because my personality is so much like hers. The Lord has helped me perceive that she has a great capacity to be sensitive and responsive to the Spirit, but along with that gift comes the tendency to be very sensitive and loudly responsive to the provocations of her older brother and other adverse circumstances. Being able to recognize the blessing as well as the challenge of this aspect of her character helps me to be more patient with her. I am a better mother to all my children as the Spirit helps me see and remember that how they act now does not always reflect who they really are and what they really can become. I also see that the “small and simple things” I accomplish as a mother really will bring great things to pass (Alma 37:6).
Isaiah prophesied about a marvelous work and wonder where the wisdom of the wise shall perish and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness (Isaiah 29:14-18). The result of this work will be apparent when Christ returns and “all shall know me, who remain . . . and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye” (D&C 84:98). The prophet Mormon links spiritual sight with charity: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ . . . that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (Moroni 7:48). The gift of spiritual sight is essential to enable us to serve the Lord now – as mothers or in any other capacity – and prepares us for that great day when our eyes shall see Him with joy in our hearts because we have already come to know Him.
The story of Samson underscores how our vision is affected by breaking the covenants we have made with God. Despite his acceptance of the Nazarite covenant whereby Samson separated himself unto the Lord (Numbers 6:2), Samson was not true to God. He used his great strength in pursuit of his own vain ambitions (Judges 14-16) and arrogantly flirted with danger until he was finally brought down by his enemies. They put out his eyes shortly before his tragic death. His experience corresponds to the loss of spiritual sight that occurs when we reject God’s covenants.
These stories demonstrate in a dramatic way the increase or decrease in our capacity for Spirit-enhanced vision, or discernment, that comes based on our response to covenants with the Lord. We invite the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion through keeping our baptismal covenant to always remember Jesus, be willing to take upon us His name and keep His commandments (D&C 20:77, 79). Then the Spirit enables us to see everything and everyone around us more as God sees them, “for the Spirit . . . speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly” (Jacob 4:13). We also receive the heart-changing power of Christ’s Atonement through the Spirit (Mosiah 3:19). Even greater blessings pour out of the Atonement and flow into our lives through the Spirit as we make and keep covenants with the Lord in His temples.
As I invite Jesus Christ to change my heart by keeping the covenants I have made with Him, I am experiencing the change in perspective as well. I find it easier to be humble as the Lord shows me my weakness (Ether 12:27) and because I see with greater clarity that opportunities and talents are gifts from Him (James 1:17, Moroni 10:3, 18). I perceive that in the past my thinking has sometimes been influenced by ideas that are not true, like the idea that worldly prominence equates with importance. This error is especially damaging to mothers, since much of our work is accomplished without worldly fanfare and yet it has great importance in God’s plan for His children. I am coming to see how my labors as a mother encompass much more than fulfilling my children’s physical needs. I recognize that God has assigned me the responsibility to introduce them to and nurture their capacity to feel His love, upon which love the entire gospel rests (Matthew 22:36-40).
Some time ago I was reading in Doctrine & Covenants 93 where Christ promises that “every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1). While recognizing that God answers such prayers in His own time and way (D&C 88:68), I decided to be bold in exercising my faith and pray to have that promise fulfilled in my life. As I continued to ponder about it over a period of weeks, the inspiration came that of greater worth than a vision of His physical features would be to see, know and comprehend Christ’s love. This ability to really understand charity – both Christ’s love for us and what our love must be for Him and for our neighbors – is the highest expression of spiritual sight, and it enables us to fulfill the two great commandments (Matthew 22:36-40). It leads us to view each person as having the greatest worth because of their status as children of God with infinite potential through Christ’s grace (Moroni 10:32, 2 Nephi 25:23), regardless of their current accomplishments or rank. Eventually this vision or knowledge of Christ’s character will lead us to God’s greatest blessings, for “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3).
As I grow in the knowledge of Christ’s character, I have greater spiritual sight to perceive my children as the Lord sees them. I have one daughter who is especially feisty, which is difficult for me to manage because my personality is so much like hers. The Lord has helped me perceive that she has a great capacity to be sensitive and responsive to the Spirit, but along with that gift comes the tendency to be very sensitive and loudly responsive to the provocations of her older brother and other adverse circumstances. Being able to recognize the blessing as well as the challenge of this aspect of her character helps me to be more patient with her. I am a better mother to all my children as the Spirit helps me see and remember that how they act now does not always reflect who they really are and what they really can become. I also see that the “small and simple things” I accomplish as a mother really will bring great things to pass (Alma 37:6).
Isaiah prophesied about a marvelous work and wonder where the wisdom of the wise shall perish and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness (Isaiah 29:14-18). The result of this work will be apparent when Christ returns and “all shall know me, who remain . . . and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye” (D&C 84:98). The prophet Mormon links spiritual sight with charity: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ . . . that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (Moroni 7:48). The gift of spiritual sight is essential to enable us to serve the Lord now – as mothers or in any other capacity – and prepares us for that great day when our eyes shall see Him with joy in our hearts because we have already come to know Him.
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