Chemical vs Physical Change
I was in the seventh grade when I was educated in the difference between a chemical and physical change. A physical change doesn't change what the object is-it just changes its appearance. If need be it could be brought back again to its normal state. Like tearing a paper in half or sand papering a block of wood physical changes have little to do with what the substance ends up becoming. On the other hand chemical changes occur when the object's make up is actually altered to the point where the object can no longer go back to what it was before. It would be like lighting a log on fire and having it turn into ash-it is a completely new substance that cannot be turned back into wood. Chemical change often alters the appearance, but most importantly-it changes what the object is forever.
My new companion Sister Streeter has a song that is called "That's What Faith Can Do". As I listen to it I can't help but add to the list of miracles, faith can accomplish the miracle of change. True faith in the Savior and in His Atonement means that we come out of the experience a "new creature", "born again", "having no more a disposition to do evil"; in essence we have a "mighty change of heart" (Mosiah 5:2)(Enos 1:4-8). On the other hand, insufficient faith in what the Savior can and will do to our lives if we let Him results only in a temporary change in demeanor or action-in other words our heart changes not at all. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has a purpose far greater than changing our actions or our outward appearance; it has the power to envelope us into a new way of thinking, feeling, acting and being. I was once told that if I had faith in the Atonement I would realize that there "was nothing its love couldn't heal, nothing its power cannot make right" and as I exercise faith I am beginning to see that is the case. I know with all my heart that His Gospel is a Gospel of change-powerful enough to make us entirely new people that can and never will go back to who we were before. If we truly wish to experience "a mighty change of heart" than we must undergo the spiritual "chemical change" available only to those that believe and act on their belief in Christ, for His reply to this change in us has and always will be the same,
"be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole."
“If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before.
Elder Jeffery R. Holland
(To read full talk click here, to watch click below)
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