Let’s all sing it together:

“What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart…”

It’s easy to sing, but is it a true statement? It doesn’t say that a wonderful change has occurred in someone’s life; it says that a wonderful change has occurred in my life. So, can I truthfully sing that a wonderful change has occurred in my life since Jesus came into my heart? Or am I just singing along for the sake of the melody?

“I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?…Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14)

Most of Alma 5 consists of questions like the above that allow for self-examination regarding our relationship with God. As you read each of the questions in the chapter, ask yourself if you can truthfully say those things about yourself. Or, if the words are written on the page of a hymn book, can you sing it?

• Can you “hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness” (verse 16)? If so, you can sing, “He held His arms and I ran in…and what I was, I’ll never be again.”
• Do you recognize that Jesus has rescued you from a future day when you would have to stand before God “with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness” (verse 18)? If so, you can sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”
• Rather than having “yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil” (verse 20), have you yielded yourself to the Lord? If so, you can sing, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.”

One of the most memorable questions in this memorable chapter is found in verse 26:

“If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?”

That’s right, Alma is asking, “Can You Sing It?” What is the song of redeeming love? It’s any song — or really any action in life — that indicates that we recognize that Jesus loved us enough to hang on the cross and redeem us from our sins, purchasing our place in the kingdom of God.

There are many hymns that can qualify as a “song of redeeming love.” One of my favorites is “It Is Well With My Soul.” Here’s one of the verses. Can you sing it?

My sin — oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin — not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

As you sing the various hymns, pay attention to the words. If the words “I,” “me,” or “my” are in the hymn, then make sure you are singing true statements about yourself. If you find that the statements are not accurate, then don’t stop singing — rather, make the necessary changes in your life so the statements are accurate.

Jesus died for all mankind so the song of redeeming love is available to everyone. If you are in the Lord’s family, the song is about you. Can you sing it?

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.