Conversion: The Healing Power of Conversion and the Heart

THE HEALING POWER OF CONVERSION

·         Elder Marion G. Romney, “Conversion,”  Conference Report, October 1963

It is about conversion and the healing which attends it that I wish to speak. Conversion is effected by divine forgiveness, which remits sins. The sequence is something like this. An honest seeker hears the message. He asks the Lord in prayer if it is true. The Holy Spirit gives him a witness. This is a testimony. If one's testimony is strong enough, he repents and obeys the commandments. By such obedience he receives divine forgiveness which remits sin. Thus he is converted to a newness of life. His spirit is healed.

Always the remittance of sins which attends divine forgiveness heals the spirit. This accounts for the fact that in the scriptures conversion and healing are repeatedly associated.

For example, in 1837 the Lord said, “I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them." (D&C 112:12-13)

Getting people's spirits healed through conversion is the only way they can be healed.

Russell M. Nelson, “Jesus Christ—the Master Healer,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 85”

 “Afflictions can come from spiritual as well as physical causes. We can more fully repent! We can become more fully converted! Then the “Son of Righteousness” can more fully bless us by His healing hand.

Early in His mortal ministry, Jesus announced that He had been sent “to heal the brokenhearted.”  Wherever He taught them, His pattern was consistent. As I quote His words spoken at four different times and locations, note the pattern.

• To people of the Holy Land, the Lord said that His people “should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” 15

• To people of ancient America, the resurrected Lord extended this invitation: “Return unto me, … repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you.” 3 Ne. 9:13

• To leaders of His Church, He taught, “Continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them.” 3 Ne. 18:32

• Later, the Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding the pioneers, “After their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.” D&C 112:13

The sequence of His pattern is significant. Faith, repentance, baptism, a testimony, and enduring conversion lead to the healing power of the Lord. Baptism is a covenant act—a sign of a commitment and a promise. Testimony develops when the Holy Ghost gives conviction to the earnest seeker of the truth. True testimony fosters faith; it promotes repentance and obedience to God’s commandments. Testimony engenders enthusiasm to serve God and fellow human beings.  Conversion means “to turn with.”  Conversion is a turning from the ways of the world to, and staying with, the ways of the Lord. Conversion includes repentance and obedience. Conversion brings a mighty change of heart. Thus, a true convert is “born again,” walking with a newness of life.

Scriptural Theme:  The Heart

Ezekial 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Jeremiah 31:33  “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Dale G. Renlund, “Preserving the Heart’s Mighty Change,” Ensign, Nov 2009, 97–99

Since 1967, over 75,000 heart transplants have been performed worldwide.  In each heart transplant recipient, the patient’s own body recognizes the new heart as “foreign” and begins to attack it.

Medicines can suppress this natural response, but the medications must be taken daily and with exactness. Occasional heart biopsies are performed wherein small pieces of heart tissue are removed and then examined under a microscope [for signs of rejection].

Surprisingly, some patients become casual with their transplanted hearts. They skip their medicines here and there and obtain the needed follow-up less frequently than they should. They think that because they feel good, all is well.

The Lord explained the operation that we all need: [In Ezekiel 36:26 He says], “A new heart also will I give you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Enduring to the end can be challenging because the tendency of the natural man is to reject the spiritually changed heart and allow it to harden. We need to frequently biopsy our mightily changed hearts and reverse any signs of early rejection.