“Verily I say, men should
be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free
will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein
they are agents unto themselves.”[1]
Often we set out to be
anxiously engaged in a good cause without first building on a sure foundation.
In the next 15 minutes I would like to lay out a plan to prepare us to be
immersed in doing excellent things. First, we must build upon the Rock. Second,
we must have a change of heart and third, we ought to engage in
self-improvement by doing away with the Natural Man.
The
great leader and prophet, Helaman, stated boldly that Christ is the Rock on
which we should build, “that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds,
yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm
shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down…because
of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall.”[2]
As we are learning to
build upon the Rock, Moroni tells us how to look at each situation to discern
what is the right action, “…for everything which inviteth to do good, and to
persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ;
wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”[3]
As we stand on the firm
foundation, which “is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of
God,”[4] we begin to see things as
God sees them. We begin to have an “eye single to His glory”[5] and to experience a change
of heart. Alma describes this change of heart as being born again.[6]
With a change of heart we
begin to see the error of our ways and conclude that we must expel the Natural
Man from us, who 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.”[7]
Let us examine a few
thoughts on the damaging affects of the Natural man.
The Prophet Joseph Smith
declared, “Mankind [is] naturally selfish, ambitious and striving to excel one
above another.”[8]
Neal A Maxwell reminded us, “Jesus put every thing on the altar without fanfare
or bargaining. Both before and after His astonishing atonement, He declared,
‘Glory be to the Father,’[9] Jesus, stunningly
brilliant, nevertheless allowed His will to be ‘swallowed up in the will of the
Father.’[10]
Those with pride-hardened minds are simply unable to do this…the Natural man is
truly God’s enemy, because the natural man will keep God’s precious children
from true and everlasting happiness. Our full happiness requires our becoming
the men and women of Christ.”[11]
Building upon the sure
foundation with a mighty change of heart and banishing the evil ways of the
natural man, we can then align our minds with Christ and fulfill the measure of
our individual missions and purposes with an anxious heart and mind “bringing
to pass much righteousness”[12]
I would like to
illustrate a recent experience that taught me about the “natural man” in me and
gave me a change of heart.
I was invited to a special
backpacking trip for educators in the beautiful Yosemite Wilderness. We would
hike an average of about 10 miles a day carrying our gear and food for 6 days.
I felt that being raised in a “backpacking family” and continuing the tradition
with our own family would lend great stamina to my experience and I felt that I
had prepared adequately for the physical burden I would face this last May. I
imagined in my mind that I would be a great strength to others needing help
along the way and that I would lift the spirits of those who were struggling. I
now cringe at that prideful thought. God had something else in store for me on
this trip.
I quickly learned several
things. First that my backpack, which belonged to Dave and which I insisted on
using because it was an up-to-date “internal frame” and better than my 20-year
old, old-fashioned “external frame”, was too big for me; it was made for a man.
It tore at my hips and caused excruciating pain at almost every step.
Secondly, the traction on
my 23-year-old boots had disappeared and I had not been careful enough to check
before embarking on the journey. I slipped and fell many times. Thus, I went
awfully slow causing the whole company of 9 to move at a snail’s pace.
Thirdly, I learned that it
would not be me who would help others, but that I would be the recipient of
help rendered to me. If I were humble, I would have graciously, at first, accepted
the service given me. But instead I was humiliated, especially when one of the
mentors asked to see my backpack and then hoisted it up in front of him and
carried it the remaining 2 miles or so to our first camp site, while still
carrying his own heavy pack on his back. This act was repeated more than once
during the week.
I wanted to be strong and
physically able. I felt embarrassed. On one of the days we hiked about 2000
feet up and then 2200 feet down steep switchbacks into a beautiful valley. I
trudged painfully slow and I knew it and everyone knew it. I must say that I
never heard or felt any mumbling or murmuring from the group, in fact, all were
so kind and seemed genuinely involved in great conversations on inspiring
subjects. But, I sadly concentrated on my own worth, or imagined my own lack of
worth in their eyes and carried that heavy burden along with my pack. This was
the more onerous burden: this humiliatingly slow pace that weighed me down into
the profundity of desperation. It is important to note that I was dwelling upon
this burden and because of it; I filtered everything through this perspective.
On a particular cloudy day as I was pondering
my struggles during solo time, my mentor sat down beside me for an interview.
He asked me where I get my value. I thought some and then said, “from doing
things.” He questioned back, “So, then, what about Joe down the road who
doesn’t do much, does he have less value?” I was caught off guard. “No,” I
hesitated, “he is still just as valuable…” I pondered for several minutes and
he repeated the question. Where do each of us get our value? Suddenly a light
turned on—I knew! I get my value from God!
From the time I could
remember, I had allowed my service to others be as a pedestal for all to see
and praise. I used this praise as a way to give myself a false sense of value,
probably because I didn't fully understand where value came from. Now I knew
that nothing I “do” can add or detract from my value.
My struggle with
humiliation resulted from the wall I had built up to protect my ego, or what I
thought was "my value". This was the single most important lesson of
the trip and could be summed up in two parts. First, knowing that my value
comes from God and that each and every other human being is equally valuable
under God lets me know that I am "enough." Secondly, everything I do
is linked to happiness or misery according to the law of God. My actions are
not linked to my value, but are linked to the quality of my life.
This powerful turning point
led me to glean and garner assiduously from the scriptures concerning
“value”. Nephi taught me that “all men
are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.”[13]
Alma, that our “souls are precious.”[14]
Christ reminded the prophet Joseph Smith to “Remember the worth of souls is
great in the sight of God.”[15]
And Bishop Edgely recently commented “Our commitment as members of Christ’s
true Church stems from the fact that the Lord suffered for every single one of
us—the nonmember, the less-active member, even the sinner, and every member in
our own family.”[16]
Understanding this seemed
to “put off the natural man” in me. I was no longer interested in holding fast
to my ego. No action affects my value under God. I seemed to have been lifted
to the very tops of the highest peak in Yosemite that day. I felt free from
this part of the natural man.
This lesson on value
stands alone as a turning point in my life that will affect the way I lead in
my home and community. I will have more power against the negative voices that
tell me, I am not enough or I am worthless. Also, I will be less judgmental
towards those who don't "do" their part. I will understand their
value is as mine is and that their lack of action can only affect their
happiness and not mine. I can go on and do what I was created to do and do it, as
Aristotle says, beautifully, without connecting my work with my value or
other's acceptance of me to my value. Our value is steady and always will be.
We have no control over our value. Our work and actions are connected only with
our happiness and are the only things of which we have control. This is
empowering!
Can you imagine the great
good we could do collectively if we could continually chip away at our egos in
order to slough off the natural man? I am envisioning all of us as brothers and
sisters who can see who we are, where we get our value and what our purpose is in
life. I am seeing all of us seeking those things we were created to do here
upon this earth. I see repentant souls, forgiving souls; I see small and great
service rendered to one another. I am imagining all of us anxiously engaged in
a good cause to affect righteousness because we are firmly planted on Christ’s
foundation.
I am eternally grateful for
inspired leaders who have guided me to put off the natural man and make changes
in my heart so that I can more effectively do good things. I am reminded of the
summer before the Twin Falls temple was in operation. It was during that time
that a mighty change was wrought upon my heart.
The story begins many years ago.
During my mission, my mother brought into her home a person who had lost her
way. She had joined the church as a
young adult, had gone on a mission and had become engaged to a nice active
member. When things did not work out as
intended, this woman became sad and lost her way. She turned to the vices that she had known
before joining the church and was in this state when my mother took her
in. Over the years, I listened more to
the adversary than to the Spirit and began letting judgments on her character
build up inside me. At times I would see
and hear leaders teaching me the words of Paul, “Let all bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamour and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”[17] At
other times I would hear the Savior say, “For, if ye forgive men their
trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not
men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”[18] I let
these teachings sink in, but only superficially and would offer only a token
repentance. Had I let them sink in more
profoundly and begun to practice unconditional love I would have seen her as
truly a child of God. It wasn’t until my
Stake President, Joseph Sagers asked us to clear up any poor relationships in
order to be prepared to go to the Twin Falls Temple. Through fasting and prayer I prayed
diligently and with all the energy of my heart to have that pure love of
Christ. Slowly but gradually it came and
it seemed that my whole being was transforming, that each cell was rebuilding
on this new realm of love. I felt a
charity for her that I had never felt before and it continues today and she has
responded to me kindly. I testify that
this love converts individuals to Christ; both the giver and the receiver. I
testify that as we learn to more fully repent and forgive one another because
we are building upon the Rock, we will be more prepared to serve anxiously as
the Lord’s hands in our families, our callings, our community and in the world.
Joshua told the children of
Israel, “Be strong and of a good courage.”[19] I
imagine having dealt with the children of Israel for all those long years,
Joshua knew that building upon the Rock, achieving a change of heart and
putting off the natural man required strength and courage.
Our Heavenly Father pleads with us
to “come unto Christ and be born again, yea, born of God, changed from [our]
carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God
becoming his sons and daughters.”[20] The
only hang-up is that he wants us to choose it for ourselves. This principle is
beautifully taught in one of my favorite hymns:
Know this,
that ev’ry soul is free
To choose
his life and what he’ll be;
For this
eternal truth is giv’n”
That God
will force no man to heav’n
He’ll
call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless
with wisdom, love, and light,
In
nameless ways be good and kind,
But never
force the human mind.
…
May we no
more our pow’rs abuse,
But ways
of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is
pleased when we improve
His grace
and seek his perfect love.
President Uchtdorf in recent years
spoke about the Statue of Christ in one of the European towns that was severely
damaged in World War II. He says, “When the townspeople found the statue among
the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith
and of God’s presence in their lives. Experts [repaired] most of the statue,
but its hands…could not be restored. Some suggested [hiring] a sculptor to make
new hands…[but] ultimately, the statue remained without hands…The people of the
city added on the base of the statue…a sign with these words: ‘You are my hands’
President Uchtdorf continues, “As we emulate His perfect example, our hands can
become His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our heart, His heart.”[21]
Brothers and sisters, I testify
that we can become his hands if we so choose. I testify that as we prepare ourselves
spiritually by building upon the Rock, Experiencing a change of heart and
ridding ourselves of the debilitating affects of the natural man, we will have
insatiable desires to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. We will know who we
are and who our brothers and sisters truly are in the great realm of things and
we will not want to cease our labors. This I know in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
[1] D&C 58:27-28
[2] Helaman 5:12
[3] Moroni 7:16
[4] Helaman 5:12
[5] D&C 82:19, Mormon 8:15
[6] Alma 5:14
[7] Mosiah 3:19
[8]The Words of Joseph
Smith comp. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, Provo, Utah: Brigham
Young University, Religious Studies Center, 1980, p. 201.)
[9] D&C 19:19; Moses 4:2
[10] Mosiah 15:7; John 6:38
[11] General Conference, October 1990
[12] D&C 58:27-28
[13] 2 Nephi 26:24-25, 28
[14] Alma 31:34
[15] D&C 18:10
[16] General Conference, April 2013
[17] Ephesians 4:32
[18] 3 Nephi 13:14-15
[19] Joshua 1:6
[20] Mosiah 27:25
[21] “You are my hands” Uchtdorf April
2010
