The State of Our Heart
Today
I listened to a recent
BYU devotional given by Michael Brown entitled “The Lord Looketh on the
Heart”. He invited us to consider five
aspects of our spiritual heart by asking whether we have a “pure heart”, “soft
heart”, “grateful heart”, “obedient heart”, and are of “one heart” with those
around us. As I think about the idea of
trying to assess the state of one’s spiritual heart, it seems to me that it is
not easily measure. I can fairly easily
assess whether I pay my tithing or attend my meetings or serve as I should in
my responsibilities. But how does one
determine whether their desires and motives and feelings of their heart are as
they should be before the Lord?
Perhaps one relevant indicator is how we react to sudden events for which we don’t have time to plan that reaction. For example, when someone cuts me off driving, what’s the first thing out of my mouth? Does forgiveness or anger make it to my heart first? This reminds me of the famous rat quote by C.S. Lewis: “Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 164-165). I think there are some good examples in the scriptures of those who in sudden moments showed that their hearts really were in the right place and pure before God. For example, after Stephen spoke with great power before the Jews, testifying of Christ, they “cast him out of the city, and stoned him.” As they did so “he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:58, 60). Stephen didn’t have time to contemplate how he was going to react to his persecutors; he didn’t have time to think about the way that Christ died and motivate himself to show love like the Savior did. No, he simply said what was in his heart; and it was full of forgiveness, not hate. In a different example, I think we likewise see what was in Nephi’s heart when he was led in the night to find Laban. Laban had just tried to kill Nephi and his brothers and had stolen their property. When the Spirit told Nephi that he was to slay him, Nephi said, “Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him” (1 Nephi 4:10). Nephi could have had feelings of hatred and a desire for revenge for the man who had nearly slain him and his brothers. If his heart had not been pure he likely would have had no hesitation in following the Spirit’s direction—Laban had it coming to him for his wicked ways, he might have thought. But his heart was pure, and he had no such feelings or any desire to do wrong when he stumbled upon Laban that night. A third story that shows the heart of one of the Savior’s disciples is that of Peter in John 21. Peter and other disciples were fishing in a boat when the Savior came to them on the shore. At first they didn’t know who it was, but they soon realized when following His instructions brought in so many fish. John’s account tells us, “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he… did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits)” (John 21:7-8). As soon as Peter knew that the Lord was there, his heart wouldn’t let him wait a little longer to stay dry and remain in the boat as it came to shore; he simply jumped into the water and rushed to his Master as fast as he could. I think that little account tells us of the great love that was in his heart for the Savior, even if he didn’t realize at the time all he was supposed to be doing as the chief apostle. I’m sure there are other examples that we could find that shows how faithful disciples’ hearts had been purified before the Lord, and the important questions for us are those posed by Brother Brown. What is the state of our heart, and how can we allow the Lord to improve it?
Perhaps one relevant indicator is how we react to sudden events for which we don’t have time to plan that reaction. For example, when someone cuts me off driving, what’s the first thing out of my mouth? Does forgiveness or anger make it to my heart first? This reminds me of the famous rat quote by C.S. Lewis: “Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 164-165). I think there are some good examples in the scriptures of those who in sudden moments showed that their hearts really were in the right place and pure before God. For example, after Stephen spoke with great power before the Jews, testifying of Christ, they “cast him out of the city, and stoned him.” As they did so “he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:58, 60). Stephen didn’t have time to contemplate how he was going to react to his persecutors; he didn’t have time to think about the way that Christ died and motivate himself to show love like the Savior did. No, he simply said what was in his heart; and it was full of forgiveness, not hate. In a different example, I think we likewise see what was in Nephi’s heart when he was led in the night to find Laban. Laban had just tried to kill Nephi and his brothers and had stolen their property. When the Spirit told Nephi that he was to slay him, Nephi said, “Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him” (1 Nephi 4:10). Nephi could have had feelings of hatred and a desire for revenge for the man who had nearly slain him and his brothers. If his heart had not been pure he likely would have had no hesitation in following the Spirit’s direction—Laban had it coming to him for his wicked ways, he might have thought. But his heart was pure, and he had no such feelings or any desire to do wrong when he stumbled upon Laban that night. A third story that shows the heart of one of the Savior’s disciples is that of Peter in John 21. Peter and other disciples were fishing in a boat when the Savior came to them on the shore. At first they didn’t know who it was, but they soon realized when following His instructions brought in so many fish. John’s account tells us, “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he… did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits)” (John 21:7-8). As soon as Peter knew that the Lord was there, his heart wouldn’t let him wait a little longer to stay dry and remain in the boat as it came to shore; he simply jumped into the water and rushed to his Master as fast as he could. I think that little account tells us of the great love that was in his heart for the Savior, even if he didn’t realize at the time all he was supposed to be doing as the chief apostle. I’m sure there are other examples that we could find that shows how faithful disciples’ hearts had been purified before the Lord, and the important questions for us are those posed by Brother Brown. What is the state of our heart, and how can we allow the Lord to improve it?
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