Wrong Again It Talks About the Savior.

Mistakes are a fact of life. Learning to skillfully play the pianoforte is essentially impossible without making thousands of mistakes—maybe even a one thousand thousand. To larn a strange language, one must face the embarrassment of making thousands of mistakes—maybe even a million. Even the globe's greatest athletes never finish making mistakes.

"Success," it has been said, "isn't the absence of failure, simply going from failure to failure without whatever loss of enthusiasm."¹

With his invention of the light seedling, Thomas Edison purportedly said, "I didn't neglect ane,000 times. The lite bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."^two Charles F. Kettering called failures "finger posts on the road to accomplishment."³ Hopefully, each fault we make becomes a lesson in wisdom, turning stumbling blocks into stepping-stones.

Nephi'southward unwavering organized religion helped him go from failure to failure until he finally obtained the brass plates. Information technology took Moses ten attempts before he finally establish success in fleeing Egypt with the Israelites.

We may wonder—if both Nephi and Moses were on the Lord's errand, why didn't the Lord arbitrate and help them accomplish success on their first attempt? Why did He allow them—and why does He allow us—to flounder and fail in our attempts to succeed? Among many important answers to that question, here are a few:

• Commencement, the Lord knows that "these things shall requite [us] feel, and shall be for [our] good."⁴

• 2d, to let u.s. to "taste the bitter, that [we] may know to prize the good."⁵

• 3rd, to evidence that "the boxing is the Lord's,"^{half dozen} and it is just by His grace that we tin reach His work and go like Him.⁷

• Fourth, to assist us develop and hone scores of Christlike attributes that cannot be refined except through opposition⁸ and "in the furnace of affliction."⁹

And then, among a life full of stumbling blocks and imperfection, we all are grateful for second chances.

In 1970, as a new freshman at BYU, I enrolled in a beginning course on the essentials of physics taught past Jae Ballif, an outstanding professor. After finishing each unit of the course, he would administer an examination. If a student received a C and wanted a better form, Professor Ballif would let the educatee to accept a modified exam covering the same material. If the pupil received a B on the 2d attempt and was all the same unsatisfied, he or she could take the test a third fourth dimension and a quaternary, and and so on. By allowing me numerous 2d chances, he helped me excel and finally earn an A in his class.

He was an uncommonly wise professor who inspired his students to keep trying—to consider failure as a tutor, not equally a tragedy, and to not fear failure but to learn from it.

Recently I telephoned this great homo 47 years afterward taking his physics form. I asked him why he was willing to let students unlimited attempts to better their grade. His response: "I wanted to be on the same side as the students."

While we are grateful for second chances post-obit mistakes, or failures of the mind, we stand up all amazed at the Savior'south grace in giving u.s. second chances in overcoming sin, or failures of the heart.

No 1 is more on our side than the Savior. He allows united states of america to take and go along retaking His exams. To go like Him will crave countless second chances in our day-to-day struggles with the natural man, such equally decision-making appetites, learning patience and forgiveness, overcoming slothfulness, and avoiding sins of omission, only to name a few. If to err is homo nature, how many failures volition it take u.s.a. until our nature is no longer human but divine? Thousands? More likely a meg.

Knowing that the strait and narrow path would be strewn with trials and that failures would be a daily occurrence for us, the Savior paid an infinite price to requite usa as many chances every bit it would take to successfully pass our mortal probation. The opposition which He allows can often seem insurmountable and almost impossible to deport, nonetheless He doesn't go out us without hope.

To keep our promise resilient as we face up life's trials, the Savior'due south grace is ever prepare and always present. His grace is a "divine ways of help or forcefulness, … an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."^ten His grace and His loving eye are upon us throughout our entire journey as He inspires, lightens burdens, strengthens, delivers, protects, heals, and otherwise "succor[s] his people," fifty-fifty every bit they stumble along the strait and narrow path.¹¹

Repentance is God's always-accessible gift that allows and enables usa to go from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm. Repentance isn't His backup plan in the event we might neglect. Repentance is His programme, knowing that we will. This is the gospel of repentance, and as President Russell Thousand. Nelson has observed, it will be "a lifetime curriculum."¹²

In this lifetime curriculum of repentance, the sacrament is the Lord's designated way of providing continual access to His forgiveness. If we partake with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He proffers us weekly pardon as nosotros progress from failure to failure along the covenant path. For "notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with pity towards them."^xiii

But but how many times will He forgive us? How long is His long-suffering? On one occasion Peter asked the Savior, "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till vii times?"¹⁴

Presumably, Peter thought seven was a sufficiently high number to emphasize the folly of forgiving too many times and that benevolence should have its limits. In response, the Savior substantially told Peter to not even count—to non establish limits on forgiveness.

"Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until 7 times: but, Until seventy times seven."^fifteen

Obviously, the Savior was not establishing an upper limit of 490. That would be analogous to saying that partaking of the sacrament has a limit of 490, and so on the 491st time, a heavenly accountant intercedes and says, "I'm so sorry, only your repentance card but expired—from this point forward, you're on your own."

The Lord used the math of seventy times seven as a metaphor of His space Amende, His boundless love, and His limitless grace. "Yea, and as frequently as my people apologize will I forgive them their trespasses against me."¹⁶

That doesn't mean that the sacrament becomes a license to sin. That'due south one reason this phrase was included in the book of Moroni: "But as oft every bit they repented and sought forgiveness, with existent intent, they were forgiven."¹⁷

Real intent implies with existent endeavour and existent change. "Change" is the principal give-and-take the Guide to the Scriptures uses to define repentance: "A alter of mind and middle that brings a fresh mental attitude toward God, oneself, and life in full general."^eighteen That kind of alter results in spiritual growth. Our success, and so, isn't going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.

Apropos change, consider this simple insight: "Things that don't change remain the same." This obvious truth isn't meant to insult your intelligence but is the profound wisdom of President Boyd Thou. Packer, who then added, "And when we are through changing—we're through."^xix

Because we don't want to be through until nosotros become as our Savior is,^xx nosotros demand to go along getting up each fourth dimension we fall, with a desire to go along growing and progressing despite our weaknesses. In our weakness, He reassures usa, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my force is made perfect in weakness."²¹

Simply with time-lapse photography or growth charts tin can we discern our concrete growth. Also, our spiritual growth is usually imperceptible except through the rearview lens of time. It would exist wise to regularly take an introspective wait through that lens to recognize our progress and inspire us to "press forwards with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope."²²

I am eternally grateful for the loving-kindness, patience, and long-suffering of Heavenly Parents and the Savior, who permit us countless second chances on our journey back to Their presence. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

schroederript1991.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/until-seventy-times-seven?lang=eng

Share this post