I started off telling about How the Leopard Got His Spots, a short story by Rudyard Kipling (which can be found here). In this story the Ethiopian and the Leopard have to change their skins in order to blend in and eat. Kipling got the idea from Jeremiah 13:23. Jeremiah is expressing his disbelief that Israel can ever change as an Ethiopian can change his skin or a Leopard his spots. President Monson brought all this to my mind with this:
"During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden, Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his prison. Said one critic, 'You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!'
Replied Warden Duffy, 'You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.'"
People can change. How? Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
When a person has become inactive, smokes, drinks, etc., we shouldn't write them off as a hopeless case. You never know when a person will make it. Sometimes all it takes is a push in the right direction: a kind word, a call for service.
How can we see others as they may become? Start with yourself (patriarchal blessing). Pray for love, read the scriptures, serve, don't judge. What would Jesus do?
I've seen what trusting in Christ can do in myself, as well as other people. If we can learn to see others as they may become, we will realize what the purpose of this life is---because becoming like our Heavenly Father can only be accomplished through change.
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