Nobody likes being that one guy who finally goes to bed at 2:30 AM after licking the ice cream carton clean and wishing he hadn't watched so many cat videos on youtube. We all have things we need to improve. Fortunately, this is a variable Heavenly Father accounted for in the pre-mortal life.
"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
As some have pointed out, this doesn't necessarily say weaknesses. God does not prepackage your addiction to twinkies and insert it into your spiritual DNA (take that sucker!) but rather arranged through the Fall for mankind to operate from a base of weakness while in this life.
This is such a fascinating scripture that I think it deserves a line-by-line dissection. Let's take a look.
If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness:
Well, there you have it. We are stupid and shortsighted, with beams stuffed into our eye sockets. We are quite equipped to deal with the day-to-day challenges of being nice to our neighbors, working at our jobs, and reading our scriptures. Often, we don't realize how weak we are until we try do the hard stuff in the gospel, like forgiving our enemies, living a consecrated life, or sharing the gospel, the real meat of what Christ wants us to do. But when a man actually tries to follow the Lord's commandments, it gets a little challenging:
Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
~~3rd Nephi 12:48
I give unto men weakness that they may be humble:
And not only that, we also get double-whammy sucker punched both by Satan and the Natural Man, neither of whom want us to change. They like our flabby weaknesses because it alienates us from the strict and uncompromising perfection of God. So, when we try to change, we often end up exposing just how far our weakness actually extends, and it can be a little bit surprising and very humbling.
And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me:
But yet, there is hope. God has made man weak, but he does not intend for us to stay weak. God's grace can help us.
What is God's grace? David A. Bednar quotes the Bible Dictionary to help us find out.
"The main idea of the word [Grace] is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."
I love that! Grace is the power, available in Christ, which allows us to "receive strength and assistance to do good works that [we] otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power."
For if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them:
So, how do we lay hold upon this grace? By coming unto Christ. We'll talk a little bit about what that means tomorrow in part II.
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
"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
As some have pointed out, this doesn't necessarily say weaknesses. God does not prepackage your addiction to twinkies and insert it into your spiritual DNA (take that sucker!) but rather arranged through the Fall for mankind to operate from a base of weakness while in this life.
This is such a fascinating scripture that I think it deserves a line-by-line dissection. Let's take a look.
If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness:
Well, there you have it. We are stupid and shortsighted, with beams stuffed into our eye sockets. We are quite equipped to deal with the day-to-day challenges of being nice to our neighbors, working at our jobs, and reading our scriptures. Often, we don't realize how weak we are until we try do the hard stuff in the gospel, like forgiving our enemies, living a consecrated life, or sharing the gospel, the real meat of what Christ wants us to do. But when a man actually tries to follow the Lord's commandments, it gets a little challenging:
Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
~~3rd Nephi 12:48
I give unto men weakness that they may be humble:
And not only that, we also get double-whammy sucker punched both by Satan and the Natural Man, neither of whom want us to change. They like our flabby weaknesses because it alienates us from the strict and uncompromising perfection of God. So, when we try to change, we often end up exposing just how far our weakness actually extends, and it can be a little bit surprising and very humbling.
And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me:
But yet, there is hope. God has made man weak, but he does not intend for us to stay weak. God's grace can help us.
What is God's grace? David A. Bednar quotes the Bible Dictionary to help us find out.
"The main idea of the word [Grace] is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."
I love that! Grace is the power, available in Christ, which allows us to "receive strength and assistance to do good works that [we] otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power."
Power. To help us do the things we cannot do on our own.
So, how do we lay hold upon this grace? By coming unto Christ. We'll talk a little bit about what that means tomorrow in part II.
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
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