The first heart transplant was performed in 1967, opening the way for many individuals' lives to be extended. The first few surgeries garnered worldwide attention. Now the operation is almost routine.
While our physical hearts sometimes fail to perform as they should, more often the symbolic centers of our deepest feelings, our spiritual hearts, become hardened and require a transplant.
What causes us to have a hardened heart? In the rough and tumble of daily life, all of us frequently or occasionally experience anger about our circumstances or the actions of others. A common example of this is when someone driving a car near us does something that is rude or jeopardizes our safety.
In pondering the consequences of anger, consider the following words of ancient and modern scripture:
...If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:15).
8 My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.
9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.
10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. (Doctrine and Covenants 64:8-10)
So how do we go about undergoing the kind of "heart surgery" that will give us a new heart to replace one that has become hardened? Forgiveness is the key. As we sincerely forgive others who have offended us, as we pray for forgiveness of our hardened feelings, as we seek the healing balm that comes through the grace of a loving God, a new heart will come. As the Lord said to ancient Israel: "A new heart . . . will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).
I know this is true, from personal experience. A number of years ago when I was working in my office an employee entered and said some very unkind things to me. In response I became angry. However, in this instance, I quickly offered a silent prayer. I told Heavenly Father that I didn't want to feel upset; I didn't like the way I felt. I asked Him to remove these ill feelings from my heart. In response, almost immediately the anger melted away. Peace replaced ire. Forgiveness replaced resentment. I did receive a "new heart" and a "new spirit."
Relief from angry feelings doesn't always come immediately. Sometimes it requires frequent prayers over an extended time to obtain the needed result. However, be it soon or late, the result is certain. The truly penitent individual who has pure motives will always gain the sought-for blessing of a new heart through pleading prayer to our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Beloved Son.
I pray that we will each put our names on the waiting list for heart transplants of the spiritual kind. We can do this by daily praying to have a forgiving heart and for the patience to avoid taking offense. We can do it by consistently strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ. We can do it by frequently remembering the warning that Jesus gave to his chief apostle: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:13). These words were spoken shortly after an argument among the apostles (see Luke 22:24). Satan desires to spiritually destroy each of us. To be aware of this is to be armed with the means to combat his wiles.
We can all thereby qualify for the same blessing the Prophet Samuel gave to Saul when he anointed him king of Israel: "The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee . . . and [thou] shalt be turned into another man. . . [And] God gave [Saul] another heart... (1 Samuel 10:6, 9).
It is my sincere prayer hat we may all lay hold of that promise as often as our human weakness requires. God's promises are sure. What hangs in the balance is our willingness to lay hold of His loving grace.
