Recently, a dearly beloved brother shared about how grateful he is to understand the respect God has for our willingness—even when that willingness doesn’t quickly materialize into perfect performance. His words made me think of Paul’s own struggles, as he expresses in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 and in Romans 7:15-25.
It seems this “war” between the “buffetings of Satan” and the “law of my mind,” or in other words the desire of our hearts, is the lifelong struggle that we all have to deal with while clothed with telestial flesh. How wonderful it will be to someday be resurrected with flesh made of celestial matter, that will totally agree with and support the longing of our hearts to be celestial—perfect as our Father has already become perfect! Then, there will be no more war. We must hold out with hope for this thing which is promised, but which will not happen in this fallen (telestial) world.
The best we can hope for (even after we have received the Savior’s personal administration of grace and mercy, His personal promise of salvation) is to “hold our own,” by holding on to Him, trusting His infinite goodness, and letting His love entice us to be more and more like Him. We will not be able to do that perfectly here in mortality, where there is this war going on, but we can come to Him and turn our mind, our heart, our will and our lives over to Him as often as needed.
It is my testimony that it’s not how many times we fall down, but how many times we allow HIM to lift us up that counts.
~Colleen H.
©2012 Hearthaven Publishing. All rights reserved.