Change My Heart Forever

In Primary we're learning a new song, "I Will Walk With Jesus" and the chorus goes:

I will walk with Jesus 

to my home above.

He will bless me with his spirit,

and fill me with his love.

Change my heart forever

and help me clearly see.

I will walk with Jesus, and he will walk with me.

I've been thinking a lot about change MY heart forever. 

I'm a pretty good person and wouldn't think I needed to change my heart too much.

However, Jesus doesn't only change hearts from bad to good. 

But also from sorrow to joy. From despair to hope. From confusion to understanding.

He's the master healer.

I'm teaching the kids to sing the chorus loud and strong 

and it almost sounds like a cheer. Beautiful rejoicing.

This Week's Podcast Inspiration 

from BYU Speeches

Wrestling with Comparisons, by J.B. Haws

Change in our Hearts:

Jesus is the answer: His teachings, His example, and especially His power to effect this change in our hearts. I am so thankful for Moroni 7:48:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Peter's wish vs. John's desire -- One was not better than the other.

John expressed his heartfelt wish to have “power over death, that [he could] live and bring souls unto [Christ]”3 until Jesus comes again. We learn in section 7 of the Doctrine and Covenants that Peter, on the other hand, had desired that he might “speedily come unto [the Lord] in [His] kingdom.”4

Here is how I have imagined this scenario playing out. This is my mental screenplay of the scriptural story. Peter approaches the Savior a bit hesitantly and quietly asks, “What was John’s heartfelt wish?” Peter learns that John desired to stay on the earth until the Second Coming to preach the gospel. I can see Peter keeping a forced smile and saying, “Wow. That is wonderful.” But in his mind he is really thinking, “Ahhh! I am so dumb! Why didn’t I ask for that? Why didn’t I even think of that? John is so much more righteous than I am! Not to mention he is a faster runner than I am! Why do I always have to be so impetuous and jump in first on everything?”

In this reading, one might assume that Doctrine and Covenants 7:5 would read like this: “I say unto thee, Peter, [your desire to come speedily into my kingdom] was a good desire; but my beloved [John] has desired that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men than what [you have done, thou slacker].” I can still remember where I was, however, when I realized that of course the verse did not read that way. Here is how it really reads: “I say unto thee, Peter, this was a good desire; but my beloved has desired that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men than what he has before done.”5

I feel this with the force of truth: our perfect, loving God makes no horizontal comparisons. In this verse Jesus only compared John with John’s former self—John with old John. He only compared Peter with old Peter, with former Peter. And He only compares me with old me.