Good morning brothers & sisters, my dear friends. I pray that as I speak the spirit may be with each of you, I pray also that the spirit may be with me, that I may convey the words to you our Father in Heaven would have me share with you today. I was excited to have received a text from Brother Thatcher Monday asking if I would be available to speak in church on Sunday. Still, my level of enthusiasm is great as I stand before you, greater than I ever imagined it would be with regard to public speaking. Given who I am able to speak about however truly explains my level of excitement because I love our Savior, Jesus Christ. I owe Him more than the level of love, enthusiasm, and gratitude I am filled with.
I have been asked to speak on how Jesus Christ can help me change individually…something I have been blessed to come to know a lot about in my few short years as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Well, sort of as I don’t yet fully understand how He helps me, I just know that He does and it begins with me and my deepest desires, my willingness to listen, act and obey.
As I prepared for this moment I began reading various talks and scriptures regarding change and the grace of God looking for greater understanding.
Change Is A Spiritual Gift
There was an article written by James E. Faust titled “The Power to Change”. What truly caught my eye was the quote at the top that read, “The power to change is very real, and it is a great spiritual gift from God.” I have long understood that change is real but I had never seen it as a spiritual gift. What a tremendous blessing!! One I feel my spirit has always longed for and I have come to wholeheartedly embrace.
In his article, he talked about change through conversion stating that “The power of the gospel can indeed change our lives and take us from sadness and despair to happiness and joy.” He talked about change coming through repentance, stating that “Transgression brings pain and sorrow. But there is a way out of “the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity” (Mosiah 27:29). If we will turn to the Lord and believe on His name, we can change. He will give us the power to change our lives, the power to put away bad thoughts and feelings from our hearts. We can be taken from “the darkest abyss” to “behold the marvelous light of God” (Mosiah 27:29). We can be forgiven. We can find peace.” I have witnessed this for myself.
He also talked about change through recovery from addictions, reminding us that “We are in this life for the spirit to gain control over the body rather than the other way around. We begin by making a decision to change. It takes courage and humility. We must desire with all our hearts, minds, and strength to overcome.” Whatever it may be that we feel must change in our lives the Savior is here to help us, we must first decide to change.
Even though I knew that what I was reading was true and beneficial for all my mind kept coming back to the topic I was given and more specifically its wording, How can Jesus Christ help Me change individually.
With that being said and more importantly felt the way I have felt it I will share with you a little bit of me. You see, I’m not the same person I was when I moved here to Utah…I’m a little more broken than I was before because I misunderstood what I have now come to see was a stupor of thought for an answer concerning the direction of my life. It took me down a path that I had once seen so full of light, hope, and possibilities and instead lead me down a path of darkness, despair and loneliness. It changed me in ways I never imagined and still have yet to realize. It took a piece of me and the person it left behind was unrecognizable. You see, I didn’t know who I was anymore and I am still struggling to find my way back. At the very core of me, I knew whose I was but the light that had once shown so brightly in me had faded so much so that I began to shrink. Not only did I not recognize myself I didn’t like who I had become. Something I pray I don’t ever allow to happen again.
I knew something needed to change and yet I didn’t like the direction it was taking me, even though it would be for my own good. As I prayed for guidance and opened my heart and mind to the changes that needed to be made I knew I would have to make some hard choices. Not like I haven’t made hard choices before, my life has been peppered with them…and not always the light sprinkling of pepper one would think. I am okay with that now but that’s not how I have always felt. That my friends has everything to do with our Savior Jesus Christ.
It began slowly, I’m not even sure I realized it was happening at the time as I read a note I had taken on my phone while preparing this talk. It was a note I had typed out just over a year ago. I see this note now as Him reminding me of something I had felt once before.
Note to Self
I feel like I am in a constant state of change…a wonderful, beautiful process with lasting eternal consequences. I have gone from this person who wanted nothing to do with religion and have been reborn, almost completely. I see the Atonement taking hold of me, my heart, and my life and transforming it all into this beautiful being who desires to know who I truly am as I have come to discover whose I truly am. Faith is a marvelous seed. As it is properly nourished, as commandments are obeyed and covenants are faithfully kept I feel the roots of my faith taking complete hold of me and I am loving this miraculous process.
I’m not the person I was 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago. I’m not the same person I was a year ago and not even the person I was 6 months ago. Changes are still coming, my transformation is not yet complete. I truly love our Savior Jesus Christ and am eternally grateful for His grace, love, and mercy as well as that of my Heavenly Father. I love the change they have made in my life as I have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is one thing that holds greater importance to me than my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…first and foremost I am a child of God. Long before I even understood who He is and what that meant for me, personally, I was a very different person. Looking back on my life before coming to the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ I gave Him every reason not to love me, every reason to give up on me and move to the next person, a more willing person. What I hadn’t realized then is something I cleave unto now…I am His. I have always been His and for that reason, He has not given up on me. I may not have known who He was or what He meant to me but He knew me and every day He shows me what I mean to Him…even the days long before I believed in Him let alone had faith in Him. Because I have come to know this I owe Him my every effort, especially during the hard, scary, and lonely times.
Effort
What needed to happen required effort on my part. It took effort, to remember whose I really was, to dig my way out of the hole I felt I was in. It took effort, to follow through, to keep moving forward, and to not give up. I have come to know that the Lord loves effort and the rewards that come as we put forth effort are priceless especially with regard to our personal growth and conversion.
It is my faith in Him, I believe, that has been my greatest source for change. Believing in the merits of His infinite atonement, an all-encompassing act that has forever changed my life as I have learned about Him and come to understand why He laid down His life for me. True, He laid down His life for us all but think about what that means for you, individually. Spend some serious time reflecting on that, it can, if you will allow it, change your life forever. It has truly changed mine.
There is still much I have yet to learn, to understand, and even accept but as I remain on the covenant path, I know the mysteries of God will be unfolded. Mysteries relating to me personally, the ways in which I have grown and changed over the last 8 years. Ways in which I will continue to change.
Mighty Change
As we read in Alma 5:14, ” have ye spiritually been born of God?… Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? I know that I have. I felt it as I was taking the missionary lessons, attending church and it was stronger after I was baptized, stronger yet as I went through the temple. Every time I study His words and the words we receive from the prophet and apostles of the church as well as other leaders…even as I open my heart to hear each of you, I am changed. It has everything to do with my focus, the depth of my desires, my attitude, and my willingness to not only listen to Him and His counsel for me but to follow Him and accept things in this life with gratitude, the good, and the bad.
“Because of the change that has been wrought about in me through our Savior I deeply desire that others may have this same experience. That they may come to know and love Him as I do. That they may see and feel of His love for them as I have come to feel of it these last few years since joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.“-kellyjowonderful
While I may not comprehend how He helps me change I recognize the part I play in allowing Him to change me. True & lasting change begins with me-He cannot help me if I do not allow Him into my heart and my life. My will is all I have-I submit it to Him, freely.
It has been said that “The possibility of change is always there, with its hidden promise of peace, happiness, and a better way of life.” (Joseph Walker, “The Miracle of Change,” Ensign, July 1992) The real question is, will you embrace it? Will you allow the Savior into your heart, your mind, and your life? Will you allow Him to help you become all that you are truly capable of becoming? Are you willing to put forth the effort required to be changed by Him?
I know that I am, there is nothing I want more than to be the person He knows me to be. I owe Him that because He has given me so much, because I know I am His. I leave these words with you along with my testimony that I know God lives, He loves you every bit as much as He loves me, He is proud of you and wants you to know that He will be with you every step of the way as you embrace change and do the hard things He is asking of you. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
