And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether 12:27)
Ether 12:27 is a Step Seven scripture. It is about being willing to come unto the Lord and to honestly admit our weaknesses to Him.
Why would we do this? So that He can shed the bright light of the Atonement on our weaknesses. So that He can—miracle of miracles—show us the way to convert those weaknesses into strengths.
But, first we must come to Him, ready to sit down in the pure but gentle light of His love and mercy. We must be willing to see our weaknesses for what they are and ourselves for what we are—beloved children of God.
Beloved, though weak.
Beloved, though immature.
Nothing can separate us from being Christ’s Beloved child and friend. He wants to help us get home and inherit all that He has.
When you’re at Step Seven, you’ve discovered that you have to be honest with God about your good and bad feelings, thoughts, actions, and attitudes. At Step Seven, you’ve entered a new level of honesty and intimacy with God. You are willing to bring everything to Him and leave everything with Him.
It takes the depths of humility to do this. Why?
Because you must come to Him with no other agenda, but to talk to Him and listen to Him talk to you about your weaknesses. Not what’s happening to you. Not what someone else is doing to you, or to themselves, or to anyone else. He doesn’t even want to listen to you regret what you did to yourself.
All of that is about symptoms. He wants to get down to the bare bones and deal with the weaknesses in your heart and in your character. He wants to help you with your weaknesses, knowing that if you’ll get down to them on a spiritual/character level, all the other things will either fall into their proper place or disappear out of your life.*
~Colleen H.
*See The Great Commandment—Love the Lord by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, April 1988)
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