My young friends, it is a pleasure to be with you today. Our weekly devotional assembly affords each of us an opportunity to pause from our regular activities while joining with others to be taught by the Holy Ghost.
It was the Lord Himself who told Emma Smith, “My soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is prayer unto me.” [1] The Holy Ghost has been delightfully and sweetly invited to attend us with the musical number that was shared.
Many of you held up scriptures and notebooks to signify that you are “ready to be taught” this afternoon. I was here in 1997 when David A. Bednar began the new tradition of holding up scriptures at the beginning of devotional meetings as a “reminder and symbol of our collective appreciation for, desire to learn from, and commitment to consistently and conscientiously study the holy scriptures.” [2]
Yes, I was here when that tradition began. My employment at this school has lasted longer than most of you have been alive. To vividly establish that fact, I have asked two young men to assist me with a demonstration: Richard Clifford, Dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts, please come to this podium and stand on my right. Henry J. Eyring, President of BYU-Idaho, please come here and stand to my left. Aren’t these young men handsome? Look how distinguished they have become. I was teaching here at Ricks College when this engaging young man looked like this. And when this young man still had a full head of hair, I was teaching here.
Thanks for your help, boys.
If you have a smartphone, tablet, or laptop with you, please google something; look up “John F. Kennedy Honolulu 1963." Hopefully within seconds you will see images of our 35 th president when he visited the island of Oahu to address the Conference of Mayors. He was there to urge the mayors to help pass legislation that would guarantee black Americans equal rights.
On June 8 th of that year, his plane touched down a little after 9 p.m. local time. President Kennedy spoke to the crowd assembled on the tarmac and commended the people of Hawaii for being a great example of how persons of differing races, cultures, and religions could live together so peacefully and prosperously.
After finishing his brief remarks at the podium, he moved forward to the people behind the restraining fence. He started shaking hands with anyone he could reach over the fence. I maneuvered my body forward into tight spaces between people, jumping up and down several times to see how close he was getting to where I was positioned in the crowd. Suddenly, the man behind me grabbed me and hoisted me high over his head onto his shoulders. Instantly I was shaking hands with the president of the United States. I was shocked, excited, surprised, elated, and terrified.
Five minutes later, President Kennedy drove off in the same 1961 Lincoln convertible that carried him to his death in Dallas five months later. I must admit to you that being asked to share a devotional address has brought some of those exact same emotions to me: shock, excitement, surprise, happiness, and terror. I welcome them all.
Repeated impressions have come to me to remind you of two things: First, the Lord Jehovah is the example we should follow in all things. We did that in our premortal existence. We should diligently seek to know more of what He taught and did on earth. And second, emotion plays an essential role in helping each of us achieve our goal of eternal life. Feelings from the Light of Christ and messages from the Holy Spirit are forms of emotional communication that have been with us forever.
The topic for my thoughts today comes from a scripture in the book of Job. Please look at verse 7 in chapter 38. After asking Job, “Who laid the corner stone of the foundations of the earth?” The Lord describes what happened when that event occurred: “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” [3] A chorus of morning stars sang, and all the sons (and daughters) of God shouted for joy! Spirits experienced elation and shouted for joy.
On this week’s devotional discussion board, I posed two questions: When the scriptures or prophets use the word “heart” to describe a part of us, exactly which part is being referenced? Also: What does Heavenly Father expect us to do with our emotions during this life?
I would like to share two of the reactions that I found especially insightful. One said, “When the Lord refers to our hearts, He means our very core, our will, our eternal and most ancient selves.” Answering the second question, another mentioned, “Emotions . . . are like training wheels to perfection . . . . As we use emotions to navigate life and learn to control them, we learn in essence to become more Godlike, which is [to be] in complete control of ourselves.”
Have you ever pondered the reasons that emotions are a component part of our eternal identity? The Lord told Job that He puts wisdom in us and gives understanding to our heart. It was true in the premortal world and is true today. Like Jehovah, we were spirit children born to Heavenly parents with an eternal component called “intelligence, or the light of truth” [4] in us.
The First Presidency of the Church in 1909 issued an official declaration concerning the
spiritual and temporal origin of man. Presidents Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and
Anthon H. Lund wrote:
All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity . . . . The doctrine of the pre-existence . . . pours a wonderful flood of light upon the otherwise mysterious problem of man’s origin. It shows that man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal body to undergo an experience in mortality. [5]
Please note they clarified the relationship of the spiritual creation of man by using the words “begotten,” “born,” and “reared.” Spirits were born as the offspring of Heavenly parents. Through that birth process, spirit element was organized into intelligent spirit beings.
An interesting relationship between heart and mind is found in the scriptures. The Prophet Joseph Smith was instructed about the process of knowledge being revealed: “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.” [6] Summarizing, we see that revelation includes both ideas to our minds and feelings to our hearts. Please turn to Mosiah 2:9. Look halfway into that verse; King Benjamin urged his people to “open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.” [7] Clearly, King Benjamin knew spiritual things are understood with the heart by the feelings of the Spirit within us.
Maybe that is why when Elder David A. Bednar was president of this institution, he was fond of teaching that knowledge comes to the mind, understanding comes to the heart, and wisdom is the righteous application of both types of knowing.
Elder Delbert L. Stapley in the October 1966 general conference explained: “The word heart is used in scripture as the core of life and strength; hence it includes mind, spirit, and soul, and one’s emotional understanding.” [8]
When the scriptures use the word “heart,” they clarify that it is the inner man deep inside of us, the very center of our being. It is where Satan places temptations and gets a place in us but where he will eventually have no power. Our desires are determined there. Our heart is distinctive and separate from our soul, conscience, or thoughts. Alma implies that our “heart” is another part of us other than the mind with a type of reasoning ability. It is a part of us where we are penetrated by the voice of the Lord and where God covenants to write His law. It is where the Holy Ghost sheds the love of God in us and where that love dwells. It is where a message spoken by man and ratified by the power of the Holy Ghost is carried.
Scriptures teach that our “heart” is where we determine priorities and focus or channel our desires and purposes. Ideas, thoughts, war, imagination, secrets, mercy and truth, pride, envy, lust, evil and madness, joy and cheerfulness, trust, purity, adultery, anger, peace, the love of God, the commandments of God, and the word of God are all found in our heart. So too are false witness, iniquities, and sorrow, as well as haughtiness. Hearts swell with great pride, boasting, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, murders, and iniquities. We are told that prudent hearts get knowledge.
Our scriptures clarify that:
- Hardness of heart = unbelief or putting off repentance or not having the word of God found in us or not repenting from evil doing.
- Blindness of heart = being past feeling = hard-heartedness, which is a sin.
- Singleness of heart = sincerity.
- An evil heart = an unbelieving heart; one which departs from the living God.
- Pride = stoutness of heart or being lifted up in your heart or being puffed up.
- A change in your heart = spiritual rebirth.
- A “mighty” change in your heart = being “quickened in the inner man.” [9]
- A broken heart = sacrifice, deep sorrow for sin.
- Zion = the pure in heart.
It is with our heart that we are commanded to purify ourselves and not be double-minded, treasure the words of Christ, follow the Son with full purpose, understand, pray continually, believe in Christ, and forgive the trespasses of our brethren. We are to receive the word of Christ deep within us.
Scriptures repeatedly state that the Lord has a heart and that He assesses ours. Though His feels “anger and fury,” [10] it is described as “meek and lowly.” He looks for people with a heart like His. He rejoices in His heart when we are wise in ours. Rather than using appearance, the Lord perceives the heart as most important when choosing leaders. God ponders and judges the ways, the works, and desires of our hearts.
There are literally hundreds of scriptures that explain things about our “heart,” the
emotional center of our spirit. Each word or phrase I have shared has a distinct scriptural reference. Admonitions and explanations too numerous to mention here today might be studied in your own private devotion time. Perhaps most important for us to understand are the scriptural promises related to our “heart:”
- God heals broken hearts.
- Righteous people have God’s laws written in their heart.
- The pure in heart shall see God.
- In the Millennium, Satan will no longer have power over the hearts of the people.
- If we do not harden our heart, we will be saved in the kingdom of God.
Last week at devotional, Sister Lisa Fox gave us four heart-refining suggestions meant to help us feel comfort and know how to comfort those around us. Do you remember them? Her suggestions are excellent heart-training directives:
- Recognize your shared divine heritage.
- Recognize the influence of empathy.
- Recognize that being other-absorbed can be just as harmful as being self-absorbed.
- Recognize when you need help. [11]
By my calculation, 19 of the 34 spiritual gifts detailed in scripture and named by modern prophets (that’s 55.8%) involve the workings of the “heart” to be efficacious. As intelligences which have existed for perhaps billions of years, we inherited the divine capacity to grow in grace, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and power to become like our Father and Mother. To help us gain the fullness of all things, they have given us the gift of emotion to help guide us in our lives. President Henry B. Eyring has reminded: “The effect of sincere prayer and careful scripture study is to always feel an urging to do things. Real spiritual sight comes to the heart softened by obedience. It takes time, but it is the sure way to see . . . . Spiritual sight comes to the heart softened by obedience . . . . It is the sure way to see.” [12] How clearly and accurately does your heart see?
Brigham Young explained: “This people must become sanctified in their affections to God and learn to deal honestly, truly and uprightly with one another in every respect, with all the integrity that fills the heart of an angel.” [13]
If you view your emotions as a worry and burden, seek counseling to help adjust them. If you want to understand them, enroll in a psychology class. If you want to explore and conquer them, come and take an actors and emotions class in the Theatre and Dance Department. If you want to suppress them, don’t. To help you develop the heart of an angel, the Holy Ghost needs you to use your God-given gift of emotions. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, our loving, caring, gracious, merciful, and perfect Savior, amen.
[1] Doctrine and Covenants 25:12.
[2] David A. Bednar, “Understanding the Importance of Scripture Study,” Ricks College devotional, Jan. 6, 1997.
[3] Job 38:7.
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 93:29.
[5] The First Presidency of the Church, “The Origin of Man,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1909.
[6] Doctrine and Covenants 8:2.
[7] Mosiah 2:9.
[8] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Conference Report, October 1966, Oct. 1966.
[9] Moses 6:65.
[10] Micah 5:15.
[11] See Lisa Fox, “Comforting Those That Stand in Need of Comfort,” BYU-Idaho devotional, Mar. 26, 2019.
[12] Henry B. Eyring, “To Draw Closer to God: A Collection of Discourses,” Deseret Book Company, 1997, p. 151-152.
[13] Ronald A. Rasband, “Integrity of Heart,” BYU devotional, Mar. 13, 2018.