A Broken Heart and A Contrite Spirit

My thoughts on Elder Porter's talk "A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit"

Long, long ago I sat in a class and the teacher (oh, she is a marvelous teacher) made a statement that rocked my world. She told us that the only thing we can give the Lord that he can’t just outright take from us is our will. (If memory serves me correct we were talking about Job, but I could be wrong.)

I have often thought about that when I’m frustrated with the Lord. I’m the one who has moved. I’m the one who has stopped communicating. I’m the one and all because I’m stubborn and I want it my way.

Sacrifice. What is that? How does it work? Are we truly sacrificing our will to the Lord?

I love this statement:

“The Savior’s perfect submission to the Eternal Father is the very essence of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Christ’s example teaches us that a broken heart is an eternal attribute of godliness. When our hearts are broken, we are completely open to the Spirit of God and recognize our dependence on Him for all that we have and all that we are. The sacrifice so entailed is a sacrifice of pride in all its forms. Like malleable clay in the hands of a skilled potter, the brokenhearted can be molded and shaped in the hands of the Master.”

I’m sure we have all had times in our lives when we are totally lost, totally confused and ready to hang it all up. We hit our knees in humility and subjection and plead for peace, comfort, blessings, etc. OR we stubbornly sit in misery and contemplate how awful the Lord is in giving us our burdens to carry without help. I envision him up there hitting his head in frustration when I do the later. “Come on Doreen! We’ve been through this. Hit your knees and I have blessings to give you, *IF* you come to me with a broken heart and contrite spirit.”

I hopefully choose the former attitude and have a heart that is “completely open to the Spirit of God” and give my pride and will to Him.

Now the trick is teaching this to your children. I honestly don’t know how to teach it to them this concept. I know I had to learn it the hard way; by going through it.