grace

Why don’t we live up to our full potential? We know the things we should and could be doing, yet we don’t do them. Why?

I read about Moses, Alma, Ammon, and Amulek and wonder why I’m not like them. If God is no respecter of persons, then the only thing holding me back is … me. That thought weighs on me.

I know we’re meant to repent daily, improving little by little, but it’s hard to feel like I’m progressing when the same sins easily beset me and the spiritual experiences I long for remain out of reach. Can I even become like Jesus? Can I really have the mysteries of God revealed to me? Or will I just never be good enough to merit them? 

I often wrestle with these thoughts, wondering if I’ll ever measure up. While preparing a talk for church, I found my answer. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said,

“Now may I speak . . . to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. . . . This feeling of inadequacy is . . . normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. . . . This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.”

2 Nephi 25: 23 … for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

What is “all we can do”

we cannot save ourselves

we cannot forgive our own sins

we cannot put off the natural man on our own

we cannot raise ourselves from the dead

but there is One who can

all we can do is rely on Him

all we can do is RELY ON CHRIST

His grace is the answer. 

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. I need His mercy and forgiveness every day. I need His power. I need His help. Because of His sacrifice, mercy overpowereth justice. Hallelujah. He is risen. Hallelujah. His grace is sufficient. Hallelujah.

With His GRACE, I am enough. Hallelujah

P.S.

Here’s 14 suggestions given by Maxwell to help deal with these feelings of inadequacy:

1. Learn to recognize the difference between divine discontent, which helps us improve, and Satan’s discouragement, which tears us down.
2. Remember how far you’ve already come. You are an “unprofitable servant,” but God blesses you abundantly for every effort.
3. Accept help from others, as well as gladly give it. God often works through small and simple means.
4. Don’t judge your worth based on others’ choices. Sometimes, even your best efforts won’t change someone else’s agency.
5. Write down and act on the many little steps toward self-improvement that are often forgotten. (the “should do’s)
6. Admit that if you were to die today, you would be deeply missed. Perhaps parliaments would not praise us, but no human circle is so small that it does not touch another, and another.
7. Focus on your own gifts and path instead of comparing yourself to others. Our gifts and opportunities differ; some are more visible and impactful. Seek to develop the gifts God has given you.
8. Be honest about your strengths, not just your weaknesses. Satan wants you to put yourself down, but heaven does not.
9. Build others up with sincere compliments. Those who are constantly serving need encouragement too.
10. Keep moving forward. Life’s burdens feel lighter when we continue progressing.
11. When you have truly given your best, that is enough. The widow’s two mites were small, but they were all she had.
12. Realize that God cares more about our growth than where we currently are.
13. You can choose your attitude, no matter your circumstances.
14. Christ can lift you from despair. He understands loneliness and suffering better than anyone.