I used to treat God as a means to an end. When I turned to Him, I always had some agenda, a goal or purpose for seeking Him. I had a reason for doing good, being good. If I did what God wanted me to do, then He’d (hopefully) do what I wanted Him to […]
Read More Christ, goals, grace, idolatry, mercy, peace, prideAbstinence is not always recovery. What?!? Many people want to believe that abstinence is the end-all of a Twelve Step program. While it’s extremely important, abstinence is the result, not the goal. Recovery is not born of abstinence. Abstinence grows from recovery. Rather than focusing on how long we’ve been abstinent, our emphasis should be […]
Read More abstinence, Christ, pride, recoveryWe often hear living the gospel compared to following the “strait and narrow path” (1 Nephi 8:20; 2 Nephi 31:18-19; 2 Nephi 33:9) It is my testimony that the “strait and narrow path” is Christ Himself, in the same way that He is the Word made flesh (John:1:14) and the Light of the world (John […]
Read More Christ, nothingness, pride, salvationIn 1 Nephi 20:1-8, Nephi quotes from Isaiah 48. This is a long one so I’m not going to repost it here. You’re going to have to look this one up in your own set of scriptures or click the link to read it online. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Done? Okay. The Lord tells Israel […]
Read More grace, gratitude, imperfection, joy, pride, trustThe Lord will not reject us or condemn us because of our mortal weaknesses. But we will not know this about Him until we come to Him just as we are. (See Ether 12:27.) This is the miracle that happens when we take Steps Six and Seven. The barrier that lies between us and knowing […]
Read More atonement, grace, humility, pride, weaknessSimply put: We will not come to Christ by living righteously—even to the best of our ability. We come to the ability to live God’s truth by crying out to Christ while still in the bondage of lies. We will not be able to deny ourselves of ungodliness without first coming to Him for His […]
Read More Christ, grace, half-measures, lies, pride, righteousness, self-sufficiencyThe Book of Mormon includes the testimonies of three witnesses who were shown the gold plates by an angel. It also includes testimonies of eight witnesses who merely saw and handled the plates, but were not visited by an angel. The miraculous appearance of an angel to the three witnesses shines through in their testimony. […]
Read More character, humility, imperfection, pride, repentance, testimony, weakness“…wo unto all those who die in their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins.” (2 Nephi 9:38) This verse is immediately preceded by a list of sins and their terrible consequences—specifically hell and damnation. I think one of the reasons we are so strongly […]
Read More agency, choices, consequences, pride, sinI have always thought of myself as a “good son”—well, daughter, actually, but you know what I mean. I went to church every Sunday, attended the temple, paid my tithing, fulfilled my callings. I’ve done a lifetime of good works, of “good son” activities. But none of that conveyed to me the love of God. […]
Read More pride, prodigal