"I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable [see Matthew 20:1–15], but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or distance from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.
"Whether you are not yet of our faith or were once with us and have not remained, there is nothing in either case you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16), and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1) at the table of the Lord. . . .
"My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, and to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and finally to those of you—member or not yet member—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.
"So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don’t delay. It’s getting late."
This year's theme for the youth of our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is Moroni 10:32. "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness."
There is so much that I hope my girls will take from this theme. First, the words of Elder Holland above. I feel one of the biggest pit falls of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ is that we get it into our heads that we have expectations to live up to (which, of course we do). And when we continually struggle to live up to those expectations, and when we continually seem to fail, we feel discouraged and feel we are simply not good enough.
That is simply not true.
To put it in another light let me bring to you, again, the words of Brad Wilcox.
And if you have a half hour to watch that video, it is completely worth it. It changed my understanding of the gospel. Of the Atonement.
Of my relationship with my savior, Jesus Christ.
I stuggled like the girl that Brother Wilcox speaks about in the beginning, wondering if I was meeting the level that I needed to be able to call on my savior for the rest.
But the thing is, there is no level that I have to meet. My savior paid for it all.
All of it.
"But don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.” Now wait. Isn’t that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?
"Too many are giving up on the Church because they are tired of constantly feeling like they are falling short. They have tried in the past, but they continually feel like they are just not good enough. They don’t understand grace.
"There should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected” (D&C 67:13).
"Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now."
I will never be able to make up for what my savior did for me in that garden. And I will never be perfect in this life. Far from it.
But what I can do is allow change in myself. To be a better person with every lesson life gives me, whether it's thrown at me the way life has a tenancy to do, or whether I create it myself with poor or weak actions. I can allow change for the better be the outcome, and I can keep going.
Especially in those times when I don't feel like I should.
Especially in those times.
Because the only time I've failed, is when I quit.
I can't do that.
You are not alone.
You are not doing this alone.
He loves you more than you realize.
No comments:
Post a Comment