[16] David A. Bednar's "The Character of Christ'

     I recently read a talk by Elder David A. Bednar titled The Character of Christ. It was given a few years ago at a BYU-I devotional. The entire talk was completely life-changing and inspiring. A few points that I really liked had to do with how he broke up the word Character.
    The first few letters are C-H-A-R which are the first letters in charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. How we show our gratitude and Christ-like love to others shows who we are which is our character.
     The other letters are A-C-T which obviously spell out the word act. Our character is defined by our actions. We may believe something or think it is a good idea, but it doesn't necessarily become a part of our character until we do something about it. We can change our character to become more Christ-like by showing actions of love and especially service.
     The main point that really hit me was when he said, "Your character is how your thoughts are outward instead of inward." I pondered that statement for a while and decided to put it to the test. As I walked around campus, I started to pay attention to the thoughts that I usually had. I didn't change them, I just made a conscious effort to remember them. After a while, I realized that most, if not all, of my thoughts were inward. For example, I thought about what others may be thinking about me, or how I look, or what my future agenda was. They weren't all necessarily bad thoughts, I just was thinking about how everything around me affected me. I was thinking about myself and if others were thinking of me.
     I decided that to know if the doctrine of outward thoughts strengthening character was true, I would need to test it out. So I did. I changed my thoughts for a whole day to what I could do to help those around me. I started thinking about what others were going through and how I could serve them. I found myself smiling at strangers and wanting to serve people I've never met. I saw people that usually bother me, and found things I like about them.
     I learned so much about thoughts and how changing them from being self-centered to selfless increased my self worth. I felt better about myself and what I am capable of. I have felt more positive and happy. I hope after some more time with practice that positive thoughts will turn into actions that turn others to Christ.