What desirest thou?

All of us have heard the scripture, “For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” (D&C 137:9 ) For much of my life I have found comfort in knowing that even though my actions are flawed and I often fall short, God will look upon my heart and recognize that I meant to do what was right. I’m sure that many of us have come to that same conclusion, and it is true. As we stand before our Eternal Judge He will look not only upon our actions but our hearts also. It was only recently that I realized that maybe my desires are not as easy of a cop out as I once thought. They too are riddled with pride, selfishness, greed and envy and they too need to be educated and refined.

 

Elder Anderson said “In order to serve as a substitute for action, desire cannot be superficial, impulsive, or temporary. It must be heartfelt, through and through. To be efficacious for blessings, the desires of our hearts must be so genuine that they can be called godly.”

I began to ask myself some honest questions. What are my hearts desires? Some were honorable and genuine, like a desire to return to live with my Father in Heaven as an eternal family.

Other desires were a lot less appropriate.

Elder Oaks said, “Have you ever found yourself doing something you thought was right, but doing it because you “had” to? Did you ever keep a commandment of God with an attitude of resentment or self-righteousness, or even because you expected some immediate personal benefit? I suppose most of us have had this experience. Remember your feelings on such occasions? Do you think such feelings will be ignored by a Father in Heaven who gave us the willpower we call agency? Don’t such feelings tell us something about the desires of our hearts?”

I came to the realization that like it or not, reality requires that I acknowledge my responsibility for my desires. What do I really desire, God’s plans for me or Satan’s?

It is up to us. This is life’s greatest and most persistent challenge. When people are described as “having lost their desire for sin,” it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to “give away all [their] sins” in order to know God (Alma 22:18).

President McKay said, “The greatest battles of life are fought … within the silent chambers of the soul.”

So how do we educate our desires? Where do we begin? Elder Oaks counseled to start with our feelings. “The desires of our hearts are deep-seated and fundamental. But our feelings are closer to the surface and easier for us to identify and influence… In order to have righteous desires, we have to control our thoughts and achieve appropriate feelings.”

It is up to us. God will guide, but He will not force.

Righteous desires need to be relentless, said President Brigham Young, “The men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle every day.”

Fortunately for us, our loving Lord will work with us, “even if we can do no more than desire to believe,” providing we will “let this desire work in us” (Alma 32:27.)

I know there is real power in desire. I testify that if we will seek to build our righteous desires, heaven will not abandon us and our Heavenly Father will give us answers to our prayers. The love of God is most desirable (1 Nephi 8:12) and if we let Him, I know that true happiness comes when we align our desires with His. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.