A TENDER HEART

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

Ephesians 4:32

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"

1 Timothy 4:1-2

Having a tender heart is equivalent to having a tender conscience, and tenderness of conscience is vital in our relationship with God.  It is dangerous to become hard-hearted and to develop a seared conscience so that we can't really tell if we are doing anything wrong or not.  The key is to learn to quickly repent whenever Heavenly Father convicts us of something, not make excuses.

When Heavenly Father shows you that you have done something wrong, just say:  "You're right, I'm wrong.  I have no excuse, so please forgive me and help me not to do it again."

It is amazing how much that will help us have a tender conscience toward our Father in Heaven and a positive mind.  But as soon as we try to reason things out and make excuses for our wrongs, we start getting a little callou on our conscience.  It becomes just a little bit harder for us to feel than the time before.

A PERFECT HEART

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars."

2 Chronicles 16:9

What does it mean to have a perfect heart?  It means to have a heartfelt desire to do right and to please God.  A person who has a perfect heart truly loves God, though he himself may not be perfect.  He may still have things in the flesh to deal with.  His mouth may still get him into trouble.  He may make mistakes or lose his temper.  But when he does, he is quick to repent and make it right with God again.  If he has offended someone else, he will humble himself and apologize.

When God looks into our lives, He doesn't look for somebody with a perfect performance but a terrible heart attitude.  He looks for someone who may not have a perfect performance but who has a right attitude toward Him.  If we have a perfect heart toward God, He counts us as perfect and works with us while we are trying to manifest that perfection.

A WISE HEART

"And thou shalt speak unto all that are ^awise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of ^bwisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office." 

-  Exodus 28:3

I am absolutely amazed by some of the stupid things we do.  We wonder why we don't have the things in life we want, when all we have to do is watch how we act.

In the bokk of Haggai we see a group of people who did not like their circumstances at all.  Jevovah's response to them was:

"Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^aConsider your ways."  -  Haggai 1:5

For eighteen years they had put off something God had shown them to do, and yet they could not understand why they were not prospering.

We must use wisdom in anything we do in life.  It shows up in the way we talk, act, handle our money, meet our responsibilities, treat other people, keep our word, and in a thousand other ways.  There are all kinds of ways we have to walk in wisdoem, yet so many of Heavenly Father's children are totally stressed out because they are going in ninety-five different directions at once.

Without wisdom, we will never experience the power of being positive.

A STIRRED HEART

"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou ^astir up the ^bgift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my ^chands"  -  2 Timothy 1:6

Jesus Christ wants us to stay stirred up.  It doesn't do any good to say, "I wish I felt that way."  You have to decide to do something about the way you feel.  If you want to have victory over your feelings strongly enough, you will do whatever it takes to get it.

How do we stay on fire?  I have discovered that the bearing my testimony; kneeling in prayer; pondering on the words of hymns and truly reviewing my week when I partake of the sacrament stirs my soul and I find that the fire that burns within me fans to a bonfire.  These spiritual activities stir our hearts and keeps the fire aflame,  and prevents our spirits from sinking or shriveling into a lump of coal.

Passivity, procrastination, and laziness are the tools that the Adversary uses against Heavenly Father's children.  A passive person waits to be moved by an outside force before taking action.  We are to be motivated and led by the Holy Spirit; not by outside forces.  The best way to guard against passivity is to do it with all your might.

A WILLING HEART

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering."

Exodus 25:1-2

"Every man according as he ^apurposeth in his heart, so let him give; not ^bgrudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a ^ccheerful ^dgiver"

2 Corinthians 9:7

When we talk about a willing heart, we are basically talking about "want to."  If there is something we want to do strongly enough, somehow we will find a way to do it.  With it we can lose weight, keep our house clean, save money, get out of debt, or reach any other goal in life we may have set for ourselves.  Our victory or defeat has a lot to do with our "want to."

We are really good at laying the blame for our failures on the adversary, other people, the past, and on and on.  But the truth is that most of the time the bottom line is we just don't have enough of the right kind of "want to."

Heavenly Father examines our heart attitude, and whatever we do for Him must be done willingly.  God delights in those who give to Him willingly, joyfully, and cheerfully, but not those who give legalistically or under compulsion.  I don't believe we receive any reward for doing things with a bad attitude.

The passage in 2 Corinthians is easy for me to relate to.  When Allisa is helping around the house she does so with a huge smile and a great heart attitude.  She is a pleasure to be around.  She is always asking how she can help; if anyone would like something to eat or drink; she asks to walk the dogs and other acts of service and kindness.  She does everything willingly and without being compelled.

When I have had opportunity to teach in Relief Society or Sunday School I expressed the different heart attitudes that exist when we pay our tithing; when we accept callings; when we attend church; or when we participate in Service or Humanitarian Projects.  Do we do these things because we feel obligated; or it's a commandment; or because it is expected of us - or do we do them because we are grateful and we love to serve; or because we feel that it is a priviledge.

Remember, Heavenly Father loves a cheerful willing Son or Daughter.

TEACHING MOMENTS

Yesterday in Seminary Evan was learning about the "Worth of Souls" and his teach shared a scripture with the students found in the Doctrine and Covenants.  She also stated that there were other scriptures found in the other standard works.  She couldn't remember the reference and challenged the kids to locate the scripture.

The keys words she gave the students:  "engraven in his hands"

Evan and I were coming home from his school.  I stated that I couldn't remember the the scripture reference but I knew that Grandpa could tell us.

After calling mom and dad's I was given mom's new cell phone number!  Yeah!  Called and asked Grandma the question so that she could relay it to Grandpa since he was driving.  He gave us more key words and gave us additional information.  The scripture could be in Isaiah, Zechariah and there could be some reference in the Book of Mormon and in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Evan and I each got on our computers and started searching the scriptures on lds.org and found some scriptures but not the exact one.  Evan decided to use his favorite search tool:  Google.  He found the scripture reference.

We looked up the scripture on lds.org and talked about it and then proceeded to find 4 other references.

We then discussed what the scriptures were talking about.  I asked him what it meant to have us graven in his hands.  I explained that it was a mental picture.

We then talked about the Atonement and the crucifiction and resurrection.  I asked him who Jesus Christ did this for and he stated:  "For us."  I told him he was correct.

My challenge to you is to tell us what scriptures we found.  I will give you the following hints:

There are two references in the Old Testament; one reference in the Book of Mormon; one reference in the New Testament and one reference in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Thanks Dad!

THE POWER OF A RENEWED HEART

"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

Heavenly Father does not look only at the exterior of a person, or even the things a person does, and judge the individual by that criterion.  Man judges after the flesh, but Heavenly Father judges by the heart.

It is possible to do good works and still have a wrong heart attitude.  It is also possible to do some things wrong but still have a right heart on the inside.  Heavenly Father is much more inclined to use a person with a good heart and a few problems than He is to use a person who seems to have it all together but who has a wicked heart.

It is very important that we get in touch with our inner life and our heart attitude, the way we fell and think about things, whe the Old Testament calls the hidden man of the heart, if we want to have any success as a Christian.

"When Heavenly Father seeks to promote He chooses a person after His own heart."