This week in Book of Mormon, Brother Griffen pointed out something that I had never thought of before. He said that the scriptures never talk about our minds being "open", but only "firm". The part of our body that the scriptures talk about being "open" is our hearts.

This is evidenced in Jacob 3:1.

"Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction."

Thinking about this has made a world of difference to me, especially in light of this Presidential Election and the talk that has gone on the past few years about being "politically correct". It has never quite sat right with me that my mind needs to be open. Doesn't God tell us that there is absolute truth? Then why would we be untrue to that by having a mind that betrays us?

However, having an open and pure heart is a different matter all together. I can love someone with a different lifestyle than me by having an open heart. I don't have to agree with them in my mind to be able to love them in my heart.

I felt a lot of comfort from this doctrine. I want to be able to maintain a firm grasp on what is right and wrong in my mind. But I also want to love all of God's children with my heart. This principle makes that possible. I am grateful for God's scriptures for providing insight on this for me.

I hope that as you go about your lives and run into people that believe differently than you, that you will be able to hold on to your beliefs with a firm mind, but that you will also be able to love them with your open and pure heart.