Jesus told Nicodemus that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Being born again is not an event except in the few rare instances where the experience is so miraculous that it gets recorded in the scriptures. Spiritual rebirth is a life long process of being anxiously engaged in working towards our salvation.

Alma laid out for us four fundamentals of spiritual rebirth. “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? (1) Have ye received his image in your countenances? (2) Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? (3) Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? (4) Do you look forward with an eye of faith” (See Alma 5:14-15).

Let’s look at each of Alma’s four fundamentals of spiritual rebirth and see if there are areas in our own lives that we can work on as we approach the coming new year.

1. Have ye received His image in your countenance? Webster defines countenance as “the human face, especially as an indicator of mood or character.” Have you ever known someone who has had a hard life? A life filled with choices that went against God’s plan? Could you see it in their countenance? In their face? Have you ever had a son or daughter come home from a night out and you knew they had gotten into trouble? “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not” (Isaiah 3:9).

Spencer W. Kimball said, “There is no doubt that the life one leads, and the thoughts one thinks are registered plainly in the face” (To Bear the Priesthood Worthily, Ensign May 1975).

To receive Christ’s countenance, we must believe as He believes, do as He would do, and acquire the attributes of godliness. Those attributes are faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, and diligence (See D&C 4:6).

Specifically, how can we acquire Christ’s countenance? What do we read? Do we read the scriptures, church magazines, and other good books or do we spend our time reading that which does not uplift? What about our music? Do we listen to music that offends the Spirit and drives Him out of our lives?

What about the entertainment we watch? We have been told not to watch R-rated movies. “Satan would have us believe that the minor infractions do not need to concern us. Why worry if we do not control our thoughts or if we allow pornographic or immoral entertainment to be part of our lives? Does attending just a few R-rated movies or immoral PG-13 movies really damage us? Are we so unworthy when we watch just two or three questionable programs on the cable television channels? Are the lewd novels of the day really so bad? These little rationalizations prompted by Satan will become great detriments to our spiritual growth” (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Message: Little Things Count, New Era May 1988). Can we have Christ’s countenance when we see R-rated movies or watch inappropriate entertainment?

Finally, what thoughts do we think? Joseph Fielding Smith said, “We should be on guard always to resist Satan’s advances. He has power to place thoughts in our minds and to whisper to us in spoken impressions.” In the Book of Mormon we read, “And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none–and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance” (2 Nephi 28:22).

I use a special word that helps me to control my thoughts. Over the years I have trained myself to empty my mind of the bad thoughts once I say my special word. Sometimes the inappropriate thoughts don’t go away very easily and I will need to repeat this special word over and over four or five times to rid the thought from my mind. There is an old adage that goes like this:

Watch your thoughts; they become words
Watch your words; they become actions
Watch your actions; they become habits
Watch your habits; they become character
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny

Can we have Christ’s countenance if we harbor inappropriate thoughts? The bad thoughts will come. It’s what we do with them once they come that’s important.

Our countenance reflects the kind of life we live. By reading out of the best books, listening to uplifting music, engaging in appropriate entertainment, and controlling our thoughts we can have Christ’s countenance. Wouldn’t it be great if our neighbors, home or visiting teaching families, friends, and co-workers would think to themselves, “There is something different about that person; something special; something that I would like to have?”

Posted by John in Feature Articles