A new heart and a new mind
"Mighty change" is mighty hard
I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart.
Ezekiel 36:26, Good News Translation (GNT)
I still have a clear memory of the moment, more than 38 years ago, when I briefly thought I was perfect.
Yes, really.
I’d been serving as a full-time missionary in Arizona for almost a year. I was in charge of several other missionaries and we were seeing lots of success in sharing our message. Personally, I had been working hard to overcome multiple personal weaknesses and believed I was making progress.
One afternoon, just outside Scottsdale, as we were leaving an appointment and driving to visit someone else, I recall looking out the window at the bright blue Arizona sky and thinking to myself, “I’ve got everything under control. All my problems are behind me. I’m as good as I’ve ever been!”
Oh so very very much not true.
Although it’s painful and a bit embarrassing to look back on that moment and all of my subsequent sins, failures, and weaknesses, my brief brush with perfection those many years ago is softened by knowing I was sincere in the thought that I had arrived at the end of my problems. I was just confused about which end.
Now, as I look both backward and forward, trying to avoid despairing over so many post-1985 mistakes and all that I yet lack, I’m reminded once again of how hard it is to change. Character defects I thought I had long ago put behind me somehow keep reappearing. Some weaknesses I struggled with decades ago are weaknesses I still struggled with just last week.
Notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.
And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins.
2 Nephi 4:
I feel this so much, Nephi.
There is real hope in understanding that weakness is, to use a phrase from the world of software development, a feature and not a bug. We are supposed to struggle. We’re designed with flaws and features that don’t always function as we wish they would. Mortal inadequacies are a necessary part of our experience and an important consequence of being fallen. Rather than bemoan the fact that we are weak, we are instead
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:27
There is a story I once read that I’ve since been unable to locate the source of, but the essence of it goes something like this:
Shortly after he had been called as an apostle, this leader was invited to share his testimony in a meeting with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. To say he was terrified was an understatement. What could he possibly say or share with them that would be equal to their sure, powerful testimonies?
After he had shared his simple witness and after the meeting had ended, he was speaking with one of the senior leaders present and expressing his feelings of anxiety and weakness and asked this leader if those feelings would ever go away.
In response, this wise man simply responded “No, and pray that they never will.”
I have found peace in his words.
My favorite message from the most recent general conference was shared by Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President. It was all about developing a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, no matter where we are in our journey and no matter what our individual weaknesses might be.
When the Lord called Enoch to journey through the land and testify of Him, Enoch hesitated. He was just a lad, slow of speech. How could he walk that path in his condition? He was blinded by what was broken in him. The Lord’s answer to what hindered him was simple and immediate: “Walk with me.” Like Enoch, we must remember that the One who was bruised and broken for us will allow mortality to do its work in us, but He doesn’t ask us to face those challenges alone. No matter the heaviness of our story or the current course of our path, He will invite us to walk with Him.
Those who have followed me here on The Bright and Morning Star know that my wife and I are big fans of the television series The Chosen. The show’s creators have found a unique way to tell the story of the life of Jesus Christ as experienced by those He invited to follow Him. They are “the chosen” referenced in the title. It is moving to watch how the Savior patiently works with each of those He has called “notwithstanding [their] weakness” (2 Nephi 33:11.) As they make mistakes and struggle to overcome jealousy, pride, and countless other flaws, He doesn’t stop loving them. He doesn’t give up on them. And always, always, He sees them not as they are but as they can and must become.
One of the most poignant and powerful examples of this comes during a moment when one of the Twelve, “Little James,” approaches the Savior with a difficult question. In the series he is portrayed as someone with a disability. His question to the Master Healer, “Why haven’t you healed me?”
So, what does all this have to do with having a “new heart and a new mind”? For me, it is about turning away from my thoughts and feelings about myself and the seemingly endless ways I “yet lack,” and instead, turning fully towards the Son, yielding my “whole soul” to Him, including “looking unto him in every thought” (D&C 6:36) so that I think as He thinks, feel as He feels, and most importantly, do as He would do. If we want help to overcome, Jesus Christ is that help.
Dear brothers and sisters, my message to you today is that because Jesus Christ overcame this fallen world, and because He atoned for each of us, you too can overcome this sin-saturated, self-centered, and often exhausting world.
Because the Savior, through His infinite Atonement, redeemed each of us from weakness, mistakes, and sin, and because He experienced every pain, worry, and burden you have ever had, then as you truly repent and seek His help, you can rise above this present precarious world.
You can overcome the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world, including arrogance, pride, anger, immorality, hatred, greed, jealousy, and fear. Despite the distractions and distortions that swirl around us, you can find true rest—meaning relief and peace—even amid your most vexing problems.
Beloved friends, fellow strivers, dear travelers - there are so many things I don’t know or understand. But I do know this: We are not alone. Having our hearts and minds changed is what it means to “repent” and is another way of saying we are being converted. We have a standing invitation to “come unto Christ” for help, strength, solace, and power.
We are here to become like Him. And we can only ever hope to become like Him with His perfect, personalized help.
The Lesson
Yes, my fretting,
Frowning child,
I could cross
The room to you
More easily.
But I’ve already
Learned to walk,
So I make you
Come to me.
Let go now—
There!
You see?
Oh, remember
This simple lesson,
Child,
And when
In later years
You cry out
With tight fists
And tears—
“Oh, help me,
God—please.”—
Just listen
And you’ll hear
A silent voice:
I would, child,
I would.
But it’s you,
Not I,
Who needs to try
Godhood.
(All of the beautiful artwork in this post comes from the new art exhibit Mosaic of Christ, now on display at Writ & Vision in Provo, Utah. I love the premise of this show!)
Finally and last of all, if you made it this far, can I ask a favor? Just tap/click the “Like” button so I know you found something useful here. That’s it. And thank you!
Another wonderful post, Scott! Thank you. And thanks for the poem at the end. That one has been a favorite of mine since I was a teenager, and still speaks to me.
I can so relate - since this life is so short and so precious, I suspect we will always be facing the beginning of challenges. But as you said, we are not alone and that makes all the difference. I pray I can remember that wonderful promise.