Comparing what we are with what we have the power to become should give us great spiritual hope. Think of it this way: There are some very serene, blue lakes on this planet situated in cavities which once were red, belching volcanoes. Likewise, there are beautiful, green, tropical mountains formed from ancient, hot extrusions. The parallel transformation of humans is much more remarkable than all of that—much more beautiful and much more everlasting!
So it is, amid the vastness of His creations, God’s personal shaping influence is felt in the details of our lives—not only in the details of the galaxies and molecules but, much more importantly, in the details of our own lives. Somehow God is providing these individual tutorials for us while at the same time He is overseeing cosmic funerals and births, for as one earth passes away so another is born (see Moses 1:38). It is marvelous that He would attend to us so personally in the midst of those cosmic duties.
Are we willing, however, to be significantly remodeled even by His loving hands? Enoch was. He marveled over God’s vast creations and fervently exclaimed, “Yet thou art there” (Moses 7:30). God is ever “there”! Significantly, Enoch also exclaimed over three attributes of God’s character, declaring that God is just, merciful, and kind forever. You and I count on those attributes of God every day. And the fact that God uses those qualities to bless us should stir us to develop them in ourselves to operate in behalf of others.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“Becoming a Disciple,” Ensign, Jun 1996, 12
Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.
Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Doctrine and Covenants 6:36-37
Note how our ability to look to Christ and banish doubt and fear is connected to the Atonement. The reason we can be completely confident in Christ is because we know that he has atoned for our sins and our weaknesses.
I need thee every hour,
In joy or pain,
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain.
I Need Thee Every Hour
Hymns no. 98
The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“‘Be of Good Cheer’,” Ensign, Nov 1982, 66
I have no question that we are here now, that we were sent now, because we have everything it takes to deal with the world now. We were put through our paces premortally. That we are here now speaks to how well we did. We have it in us not only to withstand the pressures of the last days but to triumph over them.
Now, that doesn’t mean we are living up to who we are. Typically we are in need of making some degree of course corrections. To help with this, I invite you to undergo the spring cleaning to end all spring cleanings by enrolling in Integrity 101. Let me outline the coursework. First, take an inventory of your integrity by asking yourself the kind of questions I listed earlier. Look for cracks that may have started to form. Be honest with yourself about your past dishonesties. Second, for the next thirty days take time every night to assess how you did that day. Were you true to yourself and to others? Were you true to God in every situation? See if this increased effort makes a difference in what you say, how you spend your time and money, the decisions you make, and what you repent of. See if it also makes a difference in how you feel about yourself and your life.
Finally, as you become more fully aware of your strengths and weaknesses, turn to the Savior more frequently and with increasing fervor. Thank our Father for the gift of His Son and the privilege of repenting. Express your deep desire to live with integrity. And then plead for help. The Savior has the power to help you change. He has the power to help you turn weakness into strength. He has the power to make you better than you have ever been.
I know that this is true, for I have felt His redeeming and enabling power again and again and again. May we come to be more true than we have ever been before-true to ourselves, true to others, and, most important, true to God, with whom we have made sacred covenants. May we be like the sons of Helaman-who were strict to remember God day in and day out, and who were true at all times to whatsoever thing with which they had been entrusted. May we be true blue, through and through.
Sheri L. Dew
No Doubt About It
Deseret Book (2001)
Thus, we further the Savior’s work of atonement when we live together in a state of at-one-ment. We do atonement work when we marry and work at that marriage. Without the commitment to marriage, the Lord’s atoning work could not go forward on the earth. The purposes of creation would have been wasted.
Eternal marriage, after all, is both a type and a function of at-one-ment. It is a type in that it constitutes two separate, fallen beings-a man and a woman-brought into oneness with each other and with God through the grace and power of Jesus Christ. It is a function of atonement in that, through the divine enabling power of the Atonement, a man and woman make their marriage eternal.
The Savior said, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:4-6; emphasis added.)
The word cleave is an atonement word that means “to cling to closely, tightly.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians, countering currents of asceticism already gaining momentum in the Church: “Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all . . . [are] of God.” (1 Corinthians 11:11-12.) Conversely, when we put relationships asunder, we violate this spirit of at-one-ment.
M. Catherine Thomas
The Restoration of the Doctrines of Marriage and Atonement
Women and Christ: Living the Abundant Life: Talks Selected from the 1992 Women’s Conference
Sponsored by Brigham Young University and the Relief Society
Edited by Dawn Hall Anderson, Susette Fletcher Green, and Marie Cornwall
Deseret Book Company (1993)
(paragraph breaks added to enhance online readibility)
What do we mean when we say “the spirits of just men made perfect?” (D&C 76:69; Hebrews 12:23). “Just” men and women are not perfect people. They are imperfect people who have been justified through the atonement of Christ, who have been made perfect in Christ, and they are still on the path to becoming perfect like Christ. Their perfection, their wholeness, their completeness comes from God’s righteousness, not theirs, even though they were sufficiently obedient and diligent-that is, righteous in receiving God’s righteousness through the Atonement.
Since I have come to understand the difference between being perfect in Christ and being perfect like Christ, I have begun to see people differently, to see them as celestial people, to be less judgmental about personality weaknesses, psychological hang-ups, or behavior that is not Christlike. It has made me want to covenant with deeper sincerity and humility. It has made me more grateful for the Atonement, not less. It has made me want to be better and do more rather than be contented and rest on my laurels. I find myself continually reinventing my life and wanting to serve in entirely new ways. I still see many of my weaknesses and limitations, and I want to work on those and use more of the spiritual, enabling powers and gifts and the Atonement in overcoming them.
No one is perfect. But we can be perfect in Christ and eventually perfect like Christ. We can understand either one of those two ideas only by thinking about both ideas simultaneously. Otherwise we’d face the dangers of complacency on the one hand and a feeling of hopeless imperfection on the other. The key to experiencing both of them simultaneously is to be focused on blessing someone else’s life. Then the Lord will use us in his way, may even prune us so we will bring forth more fruit (John 15:1-5), and he will give us his enabling Spirit, his gifts, and his blessings to do whatever it takes to bless and serve another person.
Stephen R. Covey
Six Events: The Restoration Model for Solving Life’s Problems
Deseret Book (2004)
Although the word efficacy is found only once in the scriptures, the closely related word effectual is found many times. The apostle Paul used this word to describe how the scriptures “effectually [work] . . . in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) and how the “gift of the grace of God [is given to us] by the effectual working of his power.” (Ephesians 3:7.) The Bible Dictionary defines grace as an “enabling power.” And “the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is [given] to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength.” (D&C 20:31.)
The apostle James promised that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16); and the Lord promised to the faithful that “an effectual door shall be opened” in their righteous endeavors. (D&C 100:3.)
Every decision to commit to the Lord that we find in the scriptures is accompanied by a corresponding power, born of faith, that gives us his strength and his knowledge on how to do it. “We need strength beyond ourselves to keep the commandments in whatever circumstance life brings to us.” And the “Lord’s enabling power is sufficient to change [our] heart, to turn [our] life, to purge [our] soul.”
In his great mercy, the Lord teaches and strengthens us so we can perform the tasks he requires of us, the tasks required for us to become like him. As Paul exclaimed, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13); and Paul admonished us to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10.) As Ammon taught, “I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things.” (Alma 26:12.)
By living the gospel, we build our foundation upon the Rock, which is Christ, his doctrine, his gospel, and his Church. He is that Christ who is our “safe foundation,” even our “sure foundation.” (Jacob 4:15, 16.)
Rodney Jay Vessels
The Zeezrom Syndrome: Let Your Spiritual Awakening Begin
Deseret Book 2005
Let’s assume that a faithful man named John is praying for a blessing with all his heart, and he does all he can to help bring it to pass, but it’s just not enough. He puts in most of what’s required but not all. He just doesn’t have the capacity to do all that’s required. But he persists and receives the blessing.
Question: Who put in the rest? The law or requirement must be fulfilled, but John wasn’t able to fully do it. Who compensates for his inadequacy?
Answer: The Lord, Jesus Christ. The enabling power of God, or grace, intervened and Jesus Christ contributed what John lacked. And thus the law was fulfilled.
Please understand this. Jesus came not only to save us from our sins but also to assist us with our infirmities, our afflictions, our weaknesses, our problems, and our discouragements. And when he does so, in the process he helps us to qualify for the blessings we seek, and that is called grace.
Now consider another man. This man has less faith than John. This man was baptized just last week. He seeks the same blessing as John, but he cannot muster the faith that John has. As he seeks to obey the required law, all he can do is put in maybe a tenth of what’s needed. Yet he still receives the blessing. Why is that? Again, because Jesus compensated and put the rest in for him. After we have done all in our power, the grace of the Lord will intervene. The prophet Nephi said it masterfully:
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (2 Nephi 25:23.)
In my judgment, this principle explains why it is that when a little child prays he can so readily receive the blessing. The child doesn’t know how to do very much except give all of his heart, but that’s enough. Then the Lord puts in the rest. Children have great access to the heavens.
We also can have such access if we will pray with all our hearts and do all we can to qualify for the blessing we seek. Then, through the grace, or enabling power, of Christ, the heavens will intervene and bring us that which we desire.
Elder Gene R. Cook
Receiving Answers to Our Prayers
Deseret Book Company (1996)
Why is it necessary for us to suffer on the way to repentance for serious transgressions? We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin, but that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptibility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened.
When a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call “a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God. We must, as the scripture says, become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord” (Mosiah 3:19). This is what the scripture means in its explanation that a person who has repented of his sins will forsake them. Forsaking sins is more than resolving not to repeat them. Forsaking involves a fundamental change in the individual.
King Benjamin’s congregation described that mighty change by saying that they had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Persons who have had that kind of change in their hearts have attained the strength and stature to dwell with God. That is one definition of what we call being saved.
Repentance has been the message in every dispensation. The risen Lord emphasized this to the Nephites in explaining what He called “the gospel which I have given unto you” (3 Nephi 27:13): “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20).
Dallin H. Oaks
“The Atonement and Faith,” Ensign, Apr 2010, 30–34