Eyring - As a Child - April 2006

President Eyring speaks of the need for all of us to be humble, meek, and submissive to God in order to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  He speaks of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon and the many lessons he taught his people.  One of the key messages was that we needed to become as a child in order for the spirit to have a place inside our hearts.  President Eyring discusses what is means to be as a child and provides some clarity on what it means to him.

• To be like a child is not to be childish. It is to be like the Savior, who prayed to His Father for strength to be able to do His will and then did it. Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to be safe in the times of moral peril.

When our nature changes to accept Christ into our lives, we are giving up what we want for something that will change our hearts.  The atonement has that effect on us and changing our ways to submit to the Savior's ways provides us a foundation for lives.

• We are safe on the rock which is the Savior when we have yielded in faith in Him, have responded to the Holy Spirit’s direction to keep the commandments long enough and faithfully enough that the power of the Atonement has changed our hearts. When we have, by that experience, become as a child in our capacity to love and obey, we are on the sure foundation.

A child listens, learns, and tries to understand their parents.  This is no different for us with our relationship to the Savior.  We need to listen to the promptings of the spirit, learn the things that will bring us into line with His teachings, and understand how we can be better.  If we can learn these characteristics, we will see that change of heart that we wish to have.

• What we do allows the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change us into what we must be. Our faith in Jesus Christ brings us to repentance and to keeping His commandments. We obey and we resist temptation by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. In time our natures will change. We will become as a little child, obedient to God and more loving. That change, if we do all we must to keep it, will qualify us to enjoy the gifts which come through the Holy Ghost. Then we will be safe on the only sure rock.

President Eyring speaks of the role that the Holy Ghost plays in changing our hearts and teaching us how we should act and be.

• The description of the Holy Ghost as a still, small voice is real. It is poetic, but it is not poetry. Only when my heart has been still and quiet, in submission like a little child, has the Spirit been clearly audible to my heart and mind.
  
• The Holy Ghost has as a major purpose witnessing that Jesus is the Christ. As we plead for help in His service, the Holy Ghost will come and confirm our faith in Him. Our faith in the Savior will increase. And, as we continue to serve Him, we will come to love Him. To be called to serve is a call to come to love the Master we serve. It is a call to have our natures changed.
  

He concludes with this testimony.

• By acting on our faith in Him we can be cleansed and changed to become pure and strong, as a little child. I bear you my testimony that the Holy Ghost can lead us to truth and away from sin.
  

When I was young, I didn't understand what it meant to become as a child.  What I have learned through the years is that the characteristics of how a child learns, loves, understands, and interacts with others is what the Savior is talking about.  A child is trusting, honest, and provides unconditional love to those around them.  A child listens, learns,and wants to become better.  The Savior wants us to never lose these characteristics.  He wants us to be seeking Him and putting into our hearts the gift of the atonement have He has provided.  Today, I am going to try to listen more, be less judgemental, and try to put myself in others peoples shoes.  Today, I will try to learn more about my Savior and how he can use me to bring about good things in other peoples lives.  If I can become better, the atonement will have a stronger effect on my life.