Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence
By applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you can begin increasing your spiritual confidence today if you are willing to listen and act.
On
a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your spiritual confidence before
God? Do you have a personal witness that your current offering as a
Latter-day Saint is sufficient to inherit eternal life? Can you say
within yourself that Heavenly Father is pleased with you? What thoughts
come to mind if you had a personal interview with your Savior one minute
from now? Would sins, regrets, and shortcomings dominate your
self-image, or would you simply experience joyful anticipation? Would
you meet or avoid His gaze? Would you linger by the door or confidently
walk up to Him?
Whenever
the adversary cannot persuade imperfect yet striving Saints such as you
to abandon your belief in a personal and loving God, he employs a
vicious campaign to put as much distance as possible between you and
God. The adversary knows that faith in Christ—the kind of faith that
produces a steady stream of tender mercies and even mighty miracles—goes
hand in hand with a personal confidence that you are striving to choose
the right. For that reason he will seek access to your heart to tell
you lies—lies that Heavenly Father is disappointed in you, that the
Atonement is beyond your reach, that there is no point in even trying,
that everyone else is better than you, that you are unworthy, and a
thousand variations of that same evil theme.
As
long as you allow these voices to chisel away at your soul, you can’t
approach the throne of God with real confidence. Whatever you do,
whatever you pray for, whatever hopes for a miracle you may have, there
will always be just enough self-doubt chipping away at your faith—not
only your faith in God but also your confidence in yourself. Living the
gospel in this manner is no fun, nor is it very healthy. Above all, it
is completely unnecessary! The decision to change is yours—and yours
alone.
I
would like to share six practical suggestions that, if heeded, will
dissipate these evil voices and restore to you the kind of peaceful
assurance and spiritual confidence that is yours to have if you only
want it. Regardless of the rating you gave yourself on that 1-to-10
scale, by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you can begin
increasing your spiritual confidence today if you are willing to listen
and act. I will speak boldly, hoping to edify and not to offend.
1. Take responsibility for your own spiritual well-being.
Stop blaming others or your circumstances, stop justifying, and stop
making excuses for why you may not be fully striving to be obedient.
Accept that you are “free according to the flesh” and “free to choose
liberty and eternal life” (2 Nephi 2:27).
The Lord knows your circumstances perfectly, but He also knows
perfectly well whether you simply choose not to fully live the gospel.
If that is the case, be honest enough to admit it, and strive to be
perfect within your own sphere of circumstances. Spiritual
confidence increases when you take responsibility for your own
spiritual well-being by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ daily.
2. Take responsibility for your own physical well-being. Your soul consists of your body and spirit (see D&C 88:15).
Feeding the spirit while neglecting the body, which is a temple,
usually leads to spiritual dissonance and lowered self-esteem. If you
are out of shape, if you are uncomfortable in your own body and can do
something about it, then do it! Elder Russell M. Nelson has taught that
we should “regard our body as a temple of our very own” and that we
should “control our diet and exercise for physical fitness” (“We Are
Children of God,”Ensign, Nov. 1998, 87; Liahona, Jan. 1999, 103).
President
Boyd K. Packer has taught “that our spirit and our body are combined in
such a way that our body becomes an instrument of our mind and the
foundation of our character” (“The Instrument of Your Mind and the
Foundation of Your Character” [Church Educational System fireside,
Feb. 2, 2003], 2; speeches.byu.edu).
Therefore, please use good judgment in what and especially how much you
eat, and regularly give your body the exercise it needs and deserves.
If you are physically able, decide today to be the master of your own
house and begin a regular, long-term exercise program, suited to your
abilities, combined with a healthier diet. Spiritual confidence increases when your spirit, with the help of the Savior, is truly in charge of your natural man or woman.
3. Embrace voluntary, wholehearted obedience as part of your life.
Acknowledge that you cannot love God without also loving His
commandments. The Savior’s standard is clear and simple: “If ye love me,
keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
Selective obedience brings selective blessings, and choosing something
bad over something worse is still choosing wrong. You can’t watch a bad
movie and expect to feel virtuous because you did not watch a very
bad one. Faithful observance of some commandments doesn’t justify
neglecting others. Abraham Lincoln rightly said, “When I do good I feel
good, when I do bad I feel bad” (in William H. Herndon and Jesse William
Weik, Herndon’s Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, 3 vols. [1889], 3:439).
Also, do the right things for the right reasons. The Lord, who “requireth the heart and a willing mind” (D&C 64:34) and who “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (D&C 33:1),
knows why you go to church—whether you are present in body only or
truly worshipping. You can’t sing on Sunday, “O Babylon, O Babylon, [I]
bid thee farewell” and then seek or tolerate its company again moments
later (“Ye Elders of Israel,” Hymns,
no. 319). Remember that casualness in spiritual matters never was
happiness. Make the Church and the restored gospel your whole life, not
just a part of your outward or social life. Choosing this day whom you
will serve is lip service only—until you actually live accordingly (see Joshua 24:15). Spiritual
confidence increases when you are truly striving, for the right
reasons, to live a consecrated life in spite of your imperfections!
4. Become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and quickly.
Because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is very practical, you should
apply it generously 24/7, for it never runs out. Embrace the Atonement
of Jesus Christ and repentance as things that are to be welcomed and
applied daily according to the Great Physician’s orders. Establish an
attitude of ongoing, happy, joyful repentance by making it your
lifestyle of choice. In doing so, beware of the temptation to
procrastinate, and don’t expect the world to cheer you on. Keeping your
eyes on the Savior, care more about what He thinks of you, and let the
consequences follow. Spiritual confidence
increases when you voluntarily and joyfully repent of sins, both small
and great, in real time by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
5. Become really, really good at forgiving. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10).
Forgive everyone, everything, all the time, or at least strive to do
so, thus allowing forgiveness into your own life. Don’t hold grudges,
don’t be easily offended, forgive and forget quickly, and don’t ever
think that you are exempt from this commandment. Spiritual confidence increases when you know that the Lord knows that you bear no ill feelings toward another soul.
6. Accept trials, setbacks, and “surprises” as part of your mortal experience.
Remember that you are here to be proved and tested, “to see if [you]
will do all things whatsoever the Lord [your] God shall command [you]” (Abraham 3:25)—and
may I just add, “under all circumstances.” Millions of your brothers
and sisters have been or are being thus tested, so why would you be
exempt? Some trials come through your own disobedience or negligence.
Other trials come because of the negligence of others or simply because
this is a fallen world. When these trials come, the adversary’s minions
begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a
punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that!
Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand,
Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then
partner with Him to endure well to the end. Spiritual confidence
increases when you accept that “often trials and tribulations are
allowed to come into [your life] because of what [you] are doing right”
(Glenn L. Pace, “Crying with the Saints” [Brigham Young University
devotional, Dec. 13, 1987], 2; speeches.byu.edu).
While
presiding over the Ukraine Kyiv Mission, I once asked one of my most
faithful sisters why she was always so hard on herself, why she was
always beating herself up over the smallest things. Her answer was a
classic example of someone listening to the wrong voice as she replied,
“So no one can beat me to it.”
Brothers
and sisters, my counsel to this sister missionary is my counsel to you:
acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don’t be immobilized by them,
because some of them will be your companions until you depart this
earth life. No matter what your current status, the very moment you
voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to
simply do and be your very best, the Savior’s Atonement envelops and
follows you, as it were, wherever you go. Living in this manner, you can
truly “always retain a remission of your sins” (Mosiah 4:12) every hour of every day, every second of every minute, and thus be fully clean and acceptable before God all the time.
Yours
is the privilege, if you want it, to come to know for yourself, today
or soon, that you are pleasing God in spite of your shortcomings. I
testify of a loving Savior who expects us to live the commandments. I
testify of a loving Savior who is so very anxious to bestow His grace
and mercy. I testify of a loving Savior who rejoices when we apply His
Atonement daily with the calm and happy assurance that we are facing in
the right direction. I testify of a loving Savior who is anxious for
your “confidence [to] wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Webb from Utah - my Trainer.
