how has Christ changed your life?

[Avatar4321]

I think this is a question every Christian should ask himself. I was thinking about this earlier. It's a question that determines the quality of our faith. Upon asking myself this question two passages from the Book of Mormon came to my mind.

The first is the aftermath of a sermon by King Benjamin who prophecied of the coming of Christ. After teaching the people the plan of salvation he asked their thoughts:

And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.
2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
3 And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodnessof God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things.
4 And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy.
5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God. (Mosiah 5:1-5)

Here Christ changed their hearts. Knowledge and faith in Him created a desire to follow Him and repent of their sins. It also gave them the desire to enter into a covenant with God. This change brought them a joy they didn't have before.

The second passage occurs around the same time after a priest named Alma repented and began to teach the people. Afterwards he posed questions for the people:

And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord.

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the foldof God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in thename of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts. (Mosiah 18:7-11)

It seems that an outpouring of the Spirit will give those who believe in Christ a change of heart. They will have a desire to covenant with Christ. To serve Him. To stand with Him and lift one another as He would.

I was thinking about my own life. There are many times ive felt overcome with the Holy Spirit. And my desires have been similar. I want to serve God and my fellow man. I want to keep the commandments even if I can't do it perfectly. I am filled with joy and love for my fellow man. I was in college the first time I felt this and it changed the path I've walked in life. I recognized.how selfish and proud I had been before and changed my life.

Have you experienced this change through Christ? How has He changed you? If you are a Christian who hasn't experienced this or a non Christian who has never known Christ, come and believe on Him and seek this change of heart. I can promise you that it will be the first in many miracles you will experience.

 

[September]

My relationship is with YHWH... and several celestial and infernal sons and daughters of YHWH who are like watchers... messengers... advisors... who help me understand Day and Night and how I might wield them according to my Will.

Although there are many things I believe about Jesus, at this time he does not play a strong role in my spirituality... and is certainly not the central figure of my spiritual/ religious system.

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[Dogmaphobe]

I am not a Christian in the traditional sense, but I do believe that when Jesus said "Believe in me and you shall be saved", He meant "Believe in my teachings". He didn't mean believe in Paul,believe in the preacher man thumping his bible or believe in a massive bureaucracy purporting to represent Him but believe in HIM.

I've long been of the attitude that if a person were to take a red letter edition of the bible and edit out all that does not appear in red, they would arrive at something that would be true Christianity. Paul polluted Jesus message. Catholicism pollutes Jesus message. All those who thump their bible instead of following Jesus' instructions pollute His message.

I find it a bit odd how Jesus cold preach that prayer should be conducted behind closed doors and as a one on one discussion with God that so much of modern Christianity involves massive displays organized for others to see and hear.

People really aren't following Jesus when they choose to follow the very mortal men who claim to represent Him and who interpret the religion that sprung up in His name according to a very mortal agenda.