Being a physics major, I’ve had to deal a lot with what are called “frames of reference” or “points of view” or “bases”. Basically, you can get different solutions to a problem if you approach the problem from a different angle. For example, when you are driving on the street all the cars around you appear to be barely moving or perhaps not moving at all depending on the speed of those cars compared to your car. However, to a stationary pedestrian, all cars seem to be moving very quickly as they drive down the street. Part of the job of a scientist, engineer, or mathematician, is to look at real-world problems from as many different angles as possible and come up with the best applicable solution to keep people safe and happy. These people need to find the best frame of reference. As the engineers of our own lives, we need to confront our own problems, and find the best point of view to solve them. And as God is the great designer and fabricator of life itself, constant and unchanging, He provides us with that foundation of thought, because He wants us to be safe and happy. If we, as children of God, are to achieve exaltation, we must undergo a tremendous change of attitude, or as it has been called by the prophets, a mighty change of heart.
So why do we need to have a change of heart? One great example in the Book of Mormon is during King Benjamin’s inspiring speech to his people. In Mosiah 5 it says, “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” (1) From this we see that it is by the Spirit of God that we achieve this mighty change of heart, and that with it, Satan has no power over us to do evil. A change of heart is a change of perspective, where all things that are evil in God’s eyes become evil in our eyes, and “if there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” (2) If we are to become like our Heavenly Father, we must see all things as He would see them. Once we align our perspective with God’s, it becomes much easier to align our will with His.
A change of heart means changing how we see life, and where our thoughts and actions come from. Does our attitude reflect the will of the Lord? Or do we reason by selfishness? In Hebrew, the word for heart is “lebh” which can mean “the will or even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything.” (3) To have a change of heart means to have a change of center, or focus. We must “… open [our] ears that [we] may hear, and [our] hearts that [we] may understand, and [our] minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to [our] view.” (4) We must look beyond our own desires to the needs of others. The center of our world should not be ourselves; we must love the Lord with all our heart, might, mind and strength. We must serve His children with all diligence, and lose ourselves in the work.
It is not natural for man to follow God’s will; it is up to us to not let ourselves give in to the temptations of the devil and the flesh. For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (5) King Benjamin teaches us how we must change our hearts. He teaches that we must become as little children! But aren’t little children always so whiny and naïve and reckless? Well that is true in some cases, but here the Lord teaches that children are so wonderful because what they truly desire is to please their parents, because they know how much their mother and father love them and want the best for them. Why does it become so much more difficult to follow our parents’ and Heavenly Parents’ guidance as we get older? Why must we lose that childlike innocence and love? Perhaps it is because as we gain more experience, God gives us harder trials to overcome. The goal is to keep that state of mind that we had as children, and turn to our father in heaven for aid in those times of need, and to express gratitude to Him in times of prosperity. It is up to us to understand that the hard times in our lives are meant to make us stronger, as hard as it is to realize. But once we’ve had that mighty change of heart, we submit to the Father’s will, and use this trial for our own benefit, just as a child could turn any time into play time.
The mighty change of heart is essential to our salvation, for without it, we cannot become like our Heavenly Father. We as spirit children must become spiritually reborn through the atonement of Christ. Brigham Young taught us what spiritual rebirth means when he said, “And when we understand more perfectly our own independent organization, which God has given us, and the spirit world, and the principles and powers that act on this organism, we will learn that a person can be so fully and solely devoted to the Spirit of truth and to God, and be so wrapped up in that Spirit that it may be called, with propriety, a new birth.” (6) The prophet Alma asks “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (7) It is up to us to answer this question for ourselves. Are we keeping an eye single to the glory of God? Are we anxiously engaged in a good cause of the Lord? “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (8) If you answer yes, I testify that you are holding fast to the iron rod, and are on the right path to eternal happiness. But know that the change of heart is not instantaneous; it usually takes an entire lifetime to experience a true change of heart. Whenever you feel the spirit in your life, do all you can to hold on to that feeling and keep the Holy Spirit with you at all times, even when hard trials come your way. I testify to you that these things are true. In order to find eternal life we must submit our will to the Father, even as Christ did at Gethsemane. We must take the name of Christ upon ourselves, and not in vain or else we will become subject to the devil. Pray to God to apply the blood of Christ and forgive you of your sins, and pray for mercy on our fellow brothers and sisters. I testify again that these things are true, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Mosiah 5:2
2. 13th Article of Faith
3. LDS Scripture Resource CD
4. Mosiah 2:9
5. Mosiah 3:19
6. Deseret News, May 2, 1860, 68.
7. Alma 5:14
8. Alma 5:26
So why do we need to have a change of heart? One great example in the Book of Mormon is during King Benjamin’s inspiring speech to his people. In Mosiah 5 it says, “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” (1) From this we see that it is by the Spirit of God that we achieve this mighty change of heart, and that with it, Satan has no power over us to do evil. A change of heart is a change of perspective, where all things that are evil in God’s eyes become evil in our eyes, and “if there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” (2) If we are to become like our Heavenly Father, we must see all things as He would see them. Once we align our perspective with God’s, it becomes much easier to align our will with His.
A change of heart means changing how we see life, and where our thoughts and actions come from. Does our attitude reflect the will of the Lord? Or do we reason by selfishness? In Hebrew, the word for heart is “lebh” which can mean “the will or even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything.” (3) To have a change of heart means to have a change of center, or focus. We must “… open [our] ears that [we] may hear, and [our] hearts that [we] may understand, and [our] minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to [our] view.” (4) We must look beyond our own desires to the needs of others. The center of our world should not be ourselves; we must love the Lord with all our heart, might, mind and strength. We must serve His children with all diligence, and lose ourselves in the work.
It is not natural for man to follow God’s will; it is up to us to not let ourselves give in to the temptations of the devil and the flesh. For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (5) King Benjamin teaches us how we must change our hearts. He teaches that we must become as little children! But aren’t little children always so whiny and naïve and reckless? Well that is true in some cases, but here the Lord teaches that children are so wonderful because what they truly desire is to please their parents, because they know how much their mother and father love them and want the best for them. Why does it become so much more difficult to follow our parents’ and Heavenly Parents’ guidance as we get older? Why must we lose that childlike innocence and love? Perhaps it is because as we gain more experience, God gives us harder trials to overcome. The goal is to keep that state of mind that we had as children, and turn to our father in heaven for aid in those times of need, and to express gratitude to Him in times of prosperity. It is up to us to understand that the hard times in our lives are meant to make us stronger, as hard as it is to realize. But once we’ve had that mighty change of heart, we submit to the Father’s will, and use this trial for our own benefit, just as a child could turn any time into play time.
The mighty change of heart is essential to our salvation, for without it, we cannot become like our Heavenly Father. We as spirit children must become spiritually reborn through the atonement of Christ. Brigham Young taught us what spiritual rebirth means when he said, “And when we understand more perfectly our own independent organization, which God has given us, and the spirit world, and the principles and powers that act on this organism, we will learn that a person can be so fully and solely devoted to the Spirit of truth and to God, and be so wrapped up in that Spirit that it may be called, with propriety, a new birth.” (6) The prophet Alma asks “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (7) It is up to us to answer this question for ourselves. Are we keeping an eye single to the glory of God? Are we anxiously engaged in a good cause of the Lord? “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (8) If you answer yes, I testify that you are holding fast to the iron rod, and are on the right path to eternal happiness. But know that the change of heart is not instantaneous; it usually takes an entire lifetime to experience a true change of heart. Whenever you feel the spirit in your life, do all you can to hold on to that feeling and keep the Holy Spirit with you at all times, even when hard trials come your way. I testify to you that these things are true. In order to find eternal life we must submit our will to the Father, even as Christ did at Gethsemane. We must take the name of Christ upon ourselves, and not in vain or else we will become subject to the devil. Pray to God to apply the blood of Christ and forgive you of your sins, and pray for mercy on our fellow brothers and sisters. I testify again that these things are true, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Mosiah 5:2
2. 13th Article of Faith
3. LDS Scripture Resource CD
4. Mosiah 2:9
5. Mosiah 3:19
6. Deseret News, May 2, 1860, 68.
7. Alma 5:14
8. Alma 5:26
11 comments:
A very well written blog. You had remarkable points that you supported well with your own insight. You can tell that you are a physics major. I really enjoyed your blog:)
I really like your writing. I also liked the way you started your paper. I think it is true that we have to solve problems by looking at it from different angles.
I thought you wrote this really well and I liked how you mentioned about why as we get older we forget to have those childlike attributes.
Title is all thats need to be said. Hit it on the money bro. Pat yourself on the back for this one. Great Job
Yes! I liked how use Kink Benjamin as your example instead of Alma. Both are great stories don't get me wrong, but all of the people changed their hearts because of his awe inspiring words. Thanks
Your intro was amazing! I really like how you related what you have to say to "frames of reference", I also appreciated what you had to testify about realizing that a change of heart takes a lifetime of small choices, it's not something we expect of ourselves, but rather something we aspire to.
P.S. I liked you allusion to the TV show Heros "Save the cheerleader, save the world"
I loved how you talked about how a change of heart is a change of perspective, This is so true and means a lot to me because in another class we have been discussing how a change of perdpective helps all kinds if relationships. It helps everything. Thank you for your wonderful testimony!
I like what you said about when we have a mighty change of heart, we submit to the Father's will.
Right off the bat I loved your title. It was interesting how you described how engineers think and work out problems with different approaches.
After having to do relativity problems in physics 123, I can appreciate your meaning behind frames of reference. It's true, one step to the right or left can change our entire point of view.
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