Love Causes Change

Sunday morning this week was a bear. I'm grouchy when I'm sleepy anyway, but this morning was especially trying. The time change might help some people, but for us, we're always tricked into staying up late thinking that we have an extra hour anyway, only to overdo it and face a groggy morning with a very awake daughter who thinks it is an hour later than we do. There was an extra Grrr in my grouchiness on this particular morning.

I prayed for help during a few quiet moments. Angry feelings stayed with me for a while until I finally told my daughter that I needed to feel the Holy Ghost and I had not yet read my scriptures. She wanted me to read to her from a church magazine, so I compromised and told her I would choose the story to make sure it had some good scriptures in it that would help me feel the Spirit.

I turned to the first message in the Friend magazine and read President Thomas S. Monson's message. The first line was “Love causes change.” Immediately, my heart was pierced with the message from the Spirit that the love I have for my family should cause me to change. I felt sorry for my angry feelings and repented in that moment, feeling the Lord heal my heart with his love for me.

The scripture quoted there was John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

I tried for the rest of the morning to show my family the same love the Savior shows me. The angry feelings were completely gone. Forgiveness came. Then a situation arose that would have normally tried my patience beyond my ability to remain calm. A power struggle with my daughter. Amazingly, I still felt the Spirit throughout the whole almost hour long ordeal. (We don't have church until 11:30). The Lord wasn't just helping me control my anger. He helped me so that the anger never even appeared in my heart! After the episode, I was filled with gratitude that I was able to handle it in a kind, firm way without giving in.

I testify that the Savior's love changes our hearts, not only in the moment we first choose to follow Him, but in all the challenging moments after that as well. His love causes change. Our love for our family and Him cause us to change for the better. The experience reminds me of the scripture that says, “Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin.” As I tried to teach my daughter that bad choices do not help us feel joy, I realized that I am still learning the same lesson myself. Her actions were paralleling what I had done that morning. I hope I can teach her that Jesus can change our hearts even when we are caught up in bad feelings if we choose to seek Him.