Forsake



Do you remember the “Great Exchange” Jaci mentioned in her book? Right now is 
your chance to put this to the test! In order to be justified, we must rely on Christ’s
merits and mercies. 

I want you to go and actually take the time to do it!  Take your pages of the Inventory 
and get on your knees.  Give it all over to God. You can even visualize placing it all
 in your Savior's hands if you need to as you pray. Personally, I have experienced a
difference when I have asked Him to take things from me versus handing them over 
to Him.

If you can recognize your powerlessness over all of the events, inputs, beliefs, 
emotions, and actions/behaviors you took the time to look at squarely, you are 
ready to take this step.  Jesus Christ has already covered it. He is simply waiting
 for you to allow Him to.

Jesus Christ is exchanging His sacrifice for your sins.  He is also wanting to upgrade
 your fallen man and natural man tendencies with His traits and characteristics.  In 
this part of our journey we are talking about a forsaking you may not have ever 
realized is possible. 

The scriptures refer to it as the “mighty change of heart” (see Alma 5:12-14 
and Mosiah 5:2), the “new man” (Ephesians 2:15, Ephesians 4:24-25, and
 Colossians 3:10), or “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  A mighty change of
 heart means He changes us at the “Belief” level.

It means that Christ will literally begin instilling His strengths and attributes into us.
  We will talk more about the details of this at the end of the chapter. If now is a good
 time, put the book down, take your Inventory in hand, and get on your knees and 
make this Great Exchange. If not, then take care of it as soon as you are ready to.

When I did this I didn’t fully understand.  I thought it meant I was completely changed
 from that moment forward. I was, but not in the ways I was expecting.  For some 
reason as I had looked forward to this part of my journey, I had expected that it meant
 from that moment on I would no longer give in to sin or make another mistake for the 
rest of my life. 

Although there have been some aspects of my fallen or natural man tendencies that
 were instantly changed or some aspects that came relatively quickly, the vast majority
 has been a process.  After more time and further understanding, I have concluded 
that we get on our knees like this to invite the process to begin.

Elder Bednar said, “For many of us, conversion is an ongoing process and not a one
time event that results from a powerful or dramatic experience. Line upon line and 
precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts,
 our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. Conversion unto the
Lord requires both persistence and patience” (HERE). Although this is something you
will begin today, it will most likely not be completed today.  It is designed to be a 
lifelong process for most of us.

As we have a mighty change of heart, we are born again, but this time we are spiritually
 born of Christ.  “In mortality we experience physical birth and the opportunity for 
spiritual rebirth. We are admonished by prophets and apostles to awake unto God, 
be ‘born again,’ and become new creatures in Christ by receiving in our lives the 
blessings made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The ‘merits, and 
mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah’ can help us triumph over the self-centered 
and selfish tendencies of the natural man and become more selfless, benevolent, 
and saintly. We are exhorted to so live that we can ‘stand spotless before [the Lord] 
at the last day’” (Source).  Repentance isn’t a one-time check it off the list thing.  
Repentance is actually a pattern.

"Repentance isn’t His backup plan in the event we might fail. Repentance is 
His plan, knowing that we will. This is the gospel of repentance, and as President 
 Russell M. Nelson has observed, it will be 'a lifetime curriculum'" (Source).

The mighty change of heart opens the door to the remission of sins 
(see Mosiah 4:3). “...their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire 
to do evil(Alma 19:33).  “...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” (Mosiah 5:2). 

I took a long time preparing to make the Great Exchange and I studied those 
verses. Then after that night on my knees and returning back to the demands of 
my daily life, I felt discouraged when I would make a mistake.  

“I must not have actually had a mighty change of heart then,” I told myself.  I 
recognized later that the keywords in these verses are desire and disposition
It doesn’t say they never made a mistake again!  It simply says they didn’t have 
the desire or disposition to sin.

Let me try to explain in my own words how this looked in my life. I began to 
discover that through the process of having a mighty change of heart, we will still 
actually make mistakes.  The difference now is that we don’t want to. 

We have given over our whole heart to God. At times it can be confusing and 
frustrating that even though our heart is right, we still will not always do it perfectly. 
The difference with a mighty change of heart is that our mistakes or sins don’t take 
us down like they used to. As soon as the Spirit brings it to our attention, we take 
care of it.  We know exactly what we need to do, and because of Jesus Christ we 
can do it!

Nephi describes this perfectly.  “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; 
and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. 
Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his 
great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, 
my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. 
I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily 
beset me” (2 Nephi 4:16-18, emphasis added).  

Now notice how mid-verse he comes to himself and starts to quickly snap out of it, 
“And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless
 I know in whom I have trusted. O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in 
his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy,  
why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh 
waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions? And why should
I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that 
the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why 
am I angry because of mine enemy? Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. 
Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul” 
(2 Nephi 4:19, 26-28, emphasis added).

Now look how Nephi starts turning to Christ instead, “O Lord, wilt thou redeem my 
soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me 
that I may shake at the appearance of sin? May the gates of hell be shut continually 
before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou 
not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the 
low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road! O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around 
in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before 
mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a 
stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and 
hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy. O Lord, I have trusted in thee, 
and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that 
cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his 
trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.  Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that 
asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice 
unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, 
my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen” 
(2 Nephi 4:31-35, emphasis added).

Can you see the difference?  It doesn’t mean that the moment we make the Great 
Exchange we will be instantly perfect; it simply means that Satan cannot keep us 
held captive for long in those moments that we do slip back into old traps. Little 
by little---almost imperceptibly---we will began to notice that we are different
Sometimes we can be so busy in the climb upward that we don’t always see what 
is beginning to happen. 

    Repentance is about more than just meeting the demands of justice, although the 
demands of justice must be met. Payment for our sins isn’t all God wants from us! 
Remember we, as in you and I, can’t meet those demands.  Christ can if we turn to Him, 
but, again, justice isn’t the only reason God asks us to repent. 

Repentance is not only an opportunity to be obedient, but also to an opportunity 
to be willing.  God requires both obedience and willingness (see D&C 64:34). 
Our willingness comes as we “...[yield our] hearts unto God (Helaman 3:35) 
and allow Christ to change us. Maybe in the past we have handed over bits 
and pieces of our heart, but that isn’t what He wants.  He wants it all.   
Everything. And repentance is the opportunity to hand it all over like we 
may have never done in the past.

I hope this analogy doesn’t hit too close to home, but what would you think if 
your spouse told you s/he would be 80% faithful to you? How would you feel?  
What if s/he even said 99% faithful? I don’t know about you, but that would still 
bother me. But that is exactly what we are doing when we withhold a portion of 
our heart from God (see Hosea)!

This whole process will take time and practice.  Our courage and our willingness 
to be persistent can increase as we understand that we aren’t going to somehow 
hit a point that God kicks us out and we lose our chance at it. Sometimes we get 
so hung up on being perfect that it’s easy to get impatient with ourselves.  We 
cannot dismiss the command to be perfect (3 Nephi 12:48), yet how do we 
become perfect? Perfection is a process and like all processes, it requires time
 and practice (for most of us). Let me share with you some of my favorite quotes 
that illustrate this concept.

“When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep 
practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. 
Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress 
in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of 
learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?” (Brad 
Wilcox, His Grace is Sufficient, Source, emphasis added).

“The job [of perfection] will not be completed in this life: but [God] means to get us 
as far as possible before death” (C.S. Lewis, Source). “In those anxious moments 
[I wonder if I’m doing enough], the greatest comfort I have found is in knowing any 
effort is pleasing to God even if He and I both know it’s not my all or my best.  It may 
be far from an acceptable offering, but God accepts it nonetheless because ultimately 
He is more concerned with the offerer than the offering.  Elder Gerald N. Lund wrote: 
‘Remember that one of Satan’s strategies, especially with good people, is to whisper in 
their ears: “If you are not perfect, you are failing.” This is one of his most effective 
deceptions...we should recognize that God is pleased with every effort we make---
no matter how faltering---to better ourselves’” (Wilcox, The Continuous Atonement, 
108, emphasis added).

"Our perfect Father does not expect us to be perfect children. He had only 
one such Child. Therefore, sometimes with smudges on our cheeks, dirt on 
our hands and shoes untied, stammeringly, but smiling we present God with 
a dandelion--as if it were an orchid or a rose! If for now the dandelion is the 
best we have to offer, He receives it knowing what we may later place on t
he altar. It is good to remember how young we are spiritually" (Elder Maxwell, 
I found this quote here, emphasis added).

”If we believe we have to be completely worthy before we approach God,  
we will never be able to.  Those who feel like failures don’t usually fight for 
a front-row seat at heaven’s throne.  Instead we distance ourselves even 
farther from the source of worthiness we seek. Maybe we do this out of 
embarrassment, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, or for many other 
motives. Whatever the reason, we are all too quickly caught in a never-ending
 cycle of procrastinated change and postponed happiness” (Wilcox, The 
Continuous Atonement, 105, emphasis added). 

We don’t need to cower or worry because of our past, our sins, our weakness, 
or shortcomings.  We are already covered! God has already provided His beautiful 
and perfect gift of the Atonement.  We need only pick it up and use it with a grateful 
heart. We can RUN to Him and fall rejoicing into His open and waiting arms because 
of our Savior!!!  And even then, He is there to help us every moment along the way!

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