Marshall Bartlett, Assistant Professor of Physics at BYU-Hawaii, addressed the subject of “The Inner Life,” at the weekly campus devotional 29 March 2007.
He began by defining the “inner life,” as “the portion of each of us which communes directly with our Father in Heaven—another name for our character, our true nature.”
Becoming perfect and returning to God’s presence is the goal and purpose of the plan of salvation, Bartlett told the students. This suggests,he went on to say, that “in order to live with God again we must do something that none of us (and, probably, no one we know) has managed to accomplish yet.”
Becoming begotten sons and daughters of God
Bartlett suggested that in order to become fundamentally different than we now are we must become the Sons and Daughters of God. To clarify his meaning, Bartlett used an example from the writings of C.S. Lewis, which says that being “begotten” by God is different than being “created” by him.
He illustrated the concept further saying that we create statues, we do not beget them. “God is our Father in that he made us, fashioned our spirits and our bodies to house them,” said Bartlett. “Becoming a Son or Daughter of God means choosing to ‘be begotten’ of Him—to become like he is. It means finding space in our inner life for His characteristics, personality, and perfections.”
The true measure of our mortal attempts to become God-like is not measured by the summation of our good deeds, but by the state of our minds and hearts. ‘This brings us, once again, up against our inner life,” said Bartlett.
Following Christ changes us from within
“Following Christ changes one from within and that change manifests itself in the actions we choose to take in the exterior world,” Bartlett said, further making the point with President Ezra Taft Benson’s words, “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ change men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”
True education improves character
He continued his remarks by sharing with the students ways in which the quality of their inner lives might affect their current educational pursuits.
“Education is intended to improve your character – to aid in the development of your inner life,” said Bartlett. “ If your inner life is not altered by the your time here, though you may graduate with a diploma in hand, in a very real way you will not have achieved the purpose for which this institution exists.”
He went on to suggest that the most important thing the students could do was to develop a genuine thirst and hunger for learning.
In addition to academic achievement, the state of our inner lives also influences the way we abide by God’s moral laws, suggesting that a violation of the school’s honor code was an indication of “our character, our inner life, as an institution. Keeping the honoer code is a testament to inner virtue,” said Bartlett.
He concluded his remarks indicating the connection between developing our inner lives and the gift of charity. “Not only is our inner life ever present before the Father,” said Bartlett, “he is the one with the power to refashion it. He is the one who can do the begetting and make us come alive.”
