The Measure of Our Hearts

Ryan and I were asked to speak in our sacrament meeting in February. I was excited for the opportunity! Some think I'm crazy, but I really enjoy speaking. 

Recently, a good friend of mine asked to read my talk. Of course, I shared it with her. That prompted me to read it again. I know that I was asked to give this talk for a reason, to help me realize what's important. Since it has been a good reminder to me, I thought I'd share!

My Talk

Since we are new to the ward, I thought it would be good to introduce myself to everyone. My name's Amanda Hinton. I grew up in Riverton, about a mile down the street, and went to Riverton High School (a long time ago). I am now doing Admissions for Roseman University's dental school over in South Jordan.

Ryan and I got married in September of last year, we’ve been married for 136 days, not that I’m counting or anything. We met a while back through some mutual friends, and even though I flirted and did my best to get his attention, he wasn't interested. Then, 5-months later, he bought the home we live in now, which happened to be in my singles ward. So he started coming to my ward. So, after working my magic and convincing him he should take me on a date, it finally worked out.  I think that experience was God’s way of teaching me patience. Patience has never been my strongest attribute.

We are enjoying being married, and love to travel as much as we can.

We’ve both been in singles wards for quite some time now, so coming back to the family ward has been a little adjustment. But we really like the ward so far. We are still trying to get to know everyone. We were just put in the primary and we're really enjoying getting to know your sweet kids.

I have been praying all week that I will be able to portray the message today that Heavenly Father wants our ward to hear. I really love Conference talks, so I’ll be using a few resources in my talk today.

 I want to talk a little about measurements. The definition of measurement is a standard by which we determine the capacity or dimension of a person or object.

As a member of the Admissions Committee, there are a lot of measurements that we look at to help us to determine if a student is fit to be a dental student at our school. We look at their GPA, their Dental Admissions Test scores and many other things. The Admissions Committee would consider an applicant that has a 4.0 GPA and a 30 Dental Admissions Test Score differently than an applicant that has a 2.0 GPA and a 17 on the Dental Admissions Test. Chances are, they would pick the 4.0 student over the 2.0 student without ever even meeting either candidate. They would assume that the applicant with a perfect academic record would be a better student than the other.

In our world today, we use a lot of different measurements help us determine the capacity of things and people.

The natural man tends to evaluate others on the basis of outward appearance, social status, family pedigrees, job status, financial status, education level, how many kids we have (or don't have), and many other things. I am sure we have all had an experience where someone has judged us based on some kind of outward appearance or status.

I'd like to share a little story about Al Fox, some of you may know her as the "Tatooed Mormon". She is a convert to the church and has full sleeves of tattoes on both of her arms. She shares her experience at many firesides and I want to share a little piece of it.

Al had just been baptized and Heavenly Father guided her to move to Utah. She didn't even know anyone in Utah, and had been told she would not fit in, but she had faith that's where the Lord wanted her to be. So she moved to Utah. The first place she went when she got here was to Cafe Rio. So there she was, standing in the wrap-around line, with all of her tattoes exposed, holding tightly to a book about one of the prophets. She said she could physically feel everyone staring at her. Finally, the guy standing next to her in line said "You know, its pretty ironic you look the way you do holding that book."

Think about how those words probably made her feel. That man didn't know that she had just been baptized, or that she had so much faith and courage that she moved to Utah by herself because she knew that's what Heavenly Father wanted. He just measured her by her outer appearance. Her story goes on and has a happy ending.

How easy it is to judge someone based on their outward appearance, without having any idea what they stand for or where their hearts lie. 

We live today in a world that is dominated by social media and other social outlets. Social media is used for really great things, like missionary work and family history searches. However, it is also used for worldly comparisons. I think many people today, especially youth, let social media and other people's opinions of us define our worth. We gauge our worth on how many friends we have on Facebook, or how many likes our picture gets on instagram, or how many people comment on our Twitter or Instagram posts.

We know that Satan is very smart. He has incorporated his lies into every aspect of our culture, including social media. Satan wants us to define ourselves by outward things, like social status and other's opinions. He knows that by making us believe we are defined by what others think of us, that we will forget our divine potential. When we forget our divine potential and purpose, we will never be truly happy. That's exactly what he wants--for us to be miserable like him.

Not only are others judging us by our outward appearances, for many of us, we are our own worst enemies. We are constantly judging ourselves and comparing our weaknesses to other people's strengths. So many of us focus on these superficial qualities, but we are forgetting what's most important.

The great news in all of this is that The Lord has a different standard that he measures us by. When the Prophet Samuel was sent to find a new King, the Lord gave him this criteria.

1 Samuel 16:7: But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for a man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton said, “When the Lord measures an individual, He does not take a tape measure around the person’s head to determine his mental capacity, nor his chest to determine his manliness, but He measures the heart as an indicator of the person’s capacity and potential to bless others.”

Isn't that refreshing? To think that God doesn't care about how tall we are, or how many friends we have, or any of that. He cares about the intentions of our hearts and the capacity we have to bless others and continue his work here on the earth. He looks at our hearts.

A heart is a symbol of so many things, the most common, probably love. In fact, there are hearts all over the place at this time of the year since Valentine's Day is later this week. A heart is used to describe the whole person. We hear phrases, like "Big-hearted", "Good hearted" or "Having a heart of gold". In the scriptures, it talks often about people with faint hearts, wise hearts, willing hearts, courageous hearts, cold hearts, hearts of stone, and selfish hearts.

The measure of our hearts is a measure of our total performance, or our entire makeup.

D&C 137:9 says, "For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts."

Heavenly Father pays close attention to what we do with our time and our thoughts. Our thoughts largely show what our intentions are and the desire of our hearts.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton suggested 3 questions we can ask ourselves to help determine how we are measuring up.

QUESTION #1: First, we should ask ourselves how honest of a heart we have?

Having an honest heart means a person is open to truth, who will evaluate infomation or people without prejudice. Honest-hearted people are reliable in word and action. They have no hidden agendas to decieve others or represent facts.

The Book of Mormon is basically made up of many stories of those who hardened thier hearts and those whose hearts were softened by the Spirit of the Lord. We can soften our hearts by following Nephi's example.

1 Nephi 2:16 Nephi shares his testimony. He says, "Having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did....soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my Father."

I have many great examples of people in my life that have honest hearts. Ryan is one of them, and I am thankful for the great example he sets for me and our future family.

QUESTION #2: The Second Question we should ask ourselves: Do I have a willing heart?

D&C 64:34 says: “Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.”

A willing heart describes one who desires to please the Lord and to serve His cause first. He serves the Lord on the Lord’s terms, not his own. There are no restrictions to where or how he will serve.

I remember an experience that I had at the temple. I had gone to the temple to do a session, and there was a girl there that had a very severe physical handicap. She could not get around on her own, and participating in the endowment was a struggle for her. But she was there. I admired her courage and her willingness to do the Lord's work despite her physical limitations. The spirit she had was so sweet and you could tell she had such a willing heart.

The Lord requires us to have a willing heart and intense desire to serve.

QUESTION #3: The Third Question to help us measure our hearts is: Do I have an understanding, loving heart?

An understanding, loving heart loves others and shows that love by serving them. They seek to understand others and do not judge them by worldly measures.

We interact with many people every day. Every interaction we have is an opportunity to show love and understanding for others.

Think about how where your heart is at and some things you can do to stay on the right track.

In closing, I found a poem I'd like to share.

God won't ask what kind of car you drove, He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won't ask what your highest salary was, He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won't ask what your job title was, He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of our ability.

God won't ask how many friends you had, He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

Samuel 16:7: But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for a man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

What would it be like if the world, like Heavenly Father, focused on the heart instead of physical and other statuses? Wouldn't it be great if when you asked someone to describe you, they would say "Has a heart of gold", or "She is always willing to serve the Lord" instead of "She's tall, blonde that always wears high heels".