I was baptized into the LDS Church at the age of 8. That
day I made a covenant with God to take upon me the name of Christ, to always
remember Him, to keep his commandments, and in return I was promised the gift of the Holy
Ghost as my constant companion.
My testimony of
Christ was small then, but I knew him to be real and I knew He loved me. Little did I know such love would
initiate a change in my heart that would have a rippling effect on my life for years to come.
Christ's love is different for everyone. For me it's like someone wrapped a warm blanket around
me on cold night. It's a feeling of unexplainable peace. I seek after it. I crave it. Sometimes it comes when I least expect it. Today it came as my husband and I knelt in prayer before he left for work. It also was manifested as I studied my scriptures. Then later in the day as I was driving on the freeway by myself, I saw the sunlight suddenly burst bright beams from beneath the clouds and I felt happiness and peace. His love is everywhere and it's always within our grasp. The more I notice and feel it, the more I want to change.
The Lord declared through the Prophet Ezekiel, “A new heart…will
I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
I always thought I was converted to Christ the moment I was
baptized as a child, but I wasn’t. I committed to following Him then, but had not
been converted. Conversion is a process much like the metamorphosis of a
caterpillar into a butterfly. It takes time and great effort.
All I can say is I am somewhere in the process of
conversion. My heart is changing. The change is indescribable, but it is real.
This past year, I have been in the process of surrendering
to God my weaknesses, pride, and self-will. It's been a battle, painful, enlightening,
humbling, and so worth it.
It’s allowed me the opportunity to come unto Christ more
fully; to admit that I cannot change on my own and I need His redeeming power.
This is merely a step in my conversion, but it’s a huge step and I am taking it
a day at a time.
President Ezra Taft Benson said,
“When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed.”
“…The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from
the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the
slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world
would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then
change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can
change human nature.
“…May we be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, choose to
follow Him, be changed for Him, captained by Him, consumed in Him, and born
again.” (Born of God, Ensign, Nov. 1985)
