In the latest video of LDS Living’s5-Minute Fireside series, author Tom Christofferson shares a story of a friend who once had a problem with the rhythm of her heartbeat. A physician performed an intricate procedure to help with the issue and a year later, her heart had a new rhythm. Just like that physician helped his friend, the Master Physician can change each of our hearts.
“We don’t change our hearts alone,” Christofferson says. “If we will let Him, the Master Physician will change our spiritual hearts to work in rhythm with His.”
Christofferson says he thinks one of the most powerful moments in scripture is when Jesus is invited into the home of a Pharisee for a meal and a woman washes his feet with her tears (see Luke 7:36–50).
“That day Jesus showed that He sees our hearts, not our histories,” Christofferson says.
In the scriptural account, we read that the Pharisee said the woman who washed Christ’s feet was a sinner. In response, Christ teaches the parable of the two debtors, showing that He saw this woman for her heart as she “loved the source of justification and sanctification—a gift she had scarcely imagined could be given to her. She, Jesus said, ‘loved much’ and was thereby healed,” Christofferson says.
“That is the essence of charity, the pure love of Christ,” Christofferson says. “Our hearts will be changed, renewed, made complete as they are filled learning to love what He loves and how He loves.”
Watch the full fireside on YouTube.
Lead image: YouTube Screenshot
In A Better Heart, Tom Christofferson blends scripture stories, personal experiences, quotes, metaphors, and commentary to show that, like a doctor treating patients for diseases of the heart, the Master Physician cares for us and will change our spiritual hearts to work in rhythm with His. As we understand the love Jesus Christ has for us and our love for Him, and as we study and seek His precious gift of charity, we begin the daily process toward a better heart. Available now at DeseretBook.com.
