I have thought lately about the term “Christian.” It was originally used as an epithet against early believers in Jesus by the Romans who considered them contemptible. Nowadays, the term has a completely different meaning. It means a follower, a disciple, and a student of Christ. Above all, a Christian is one who strives, as Jesus said, to be like him (3 Nephi 27:27).
In all my musings on the subject, I started asking myself not only WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) but HDJD—How did Jesus do?
Often Jesus talked about the glory he had before he came to the earth. However, Paul teaches that Christ, in essence, had to start over. “Who, being in the form of God… made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men… [and] humbled himself and became obedient unto death,” (Philippians 2:6-8). The early Greek manuscripts use the word kenosis meaning “pour out.” When Christ came to earth to be our Savior, he was emptied and having to begin anew as a mortal man.
Luke says that Christ, as a teenager, “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man,” (Luke 2:52). He had to grow. So how did he progress in such a perfect, sinless way?
John, his relative and friend, said about his development, “He received not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace; and he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace, until he received a fullness; and thus he was called the Son of God,” (D&C 93:12-14). There is a reason “grace for grace” is repeated so often. Jesus relied on a gift of God called GRACE.
Grace can be called the enabling power of God. It is this power that enabled Christ to learn and grow rapidly, completely unretarded by the effects of sin. It is the grace of God that fortified him and made it possible to resist all sin. It is the inherent grace of his Sonship that gave him power over death. So too is grace a power given to us in measure that not only saves us at death, but that helps us to do good and do all the things God has asked of us.
So who receives this gift here and now? The Apostle James teaches us, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble,” (James 4:6). God gives his grace to those who will humbly recognize where it came from. How does real humility come? It comes in the realization of Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am… I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me,” (1 Cor. 15:10). It is a realization that every good deed we do is not really us, but God’s grace, his wisdom and love that is passed through us to accomplish good. After all, the way God usually answers the prayers of his children is through his other children. Humility comes not only in that realization, but also in light of our weaknesses.
Christ tells us, “If men come unto me, I will show them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble,” (Ether 12:27). Our weakness is a sign of the love of God, for it gives us the opportunity to be humble so that we may qualify for this help. The Savior adds, “And my grace is sufficient for all men who 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.”
Paul, in a rare moment of public introspection, described his experience this way:
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me… For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,” (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Three times Paul asked for help. Notice how aid was not immediate. His faith was tried. But, he says, “When I am weak, then am I strong.”
Twice we see the phrase “my grace is sufficient.” What does God mean when he says it? He is giving us a promise that in whatever he asks of us, he will give us the grace, the power, and the ability to perform it and endure it happily. This may extend to responsibilities in church, in our families, to our friends, to our spouse, or in the biding of the storm of a heart-wrenching trial. He is promising that, though it may seem like more than we are able to bear, his power is enough for us because all things are in his hands; he will not leave us powerless.
The only condition for this promise is that we are humble enough to ask for it. Then we will receive as he promised when he said, “Ask, and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” (D&C 4:7).
Examples of this are everywhere. Missionaries learn seemingly impossible languages in months and endure weather and conditions into which no normal person would want to venture. They talk to strangers daily and are asked to lead groups of people much more experienced than they are. The pressure of persecution often lies squarely on their shoulders. They are given an added measure of grace to accomplish their work—but not without a price.
We often ask, “Why is this so hard?” One answer rings loudly. Jeffrey R. Holland said, “You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that [life] is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are the Church of Jesus Christ… How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that [we all] have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane… to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.”
Every person has their own Gethsemane and takes a few steps toward Calvary. It is because of these few steps that we learn to be humble enough to receive the grace of God and to become acquainted with God. We understand a bit of what the Savior experienced. It is in those moments of humble desperation that we begin to see our strengths.
In the early summer of 2009, I was living in a relatively comfortable apartment in Ulaanbaatar, capital city of Mongolia. I began to notice a slight pain in my chest after fighting off strep throat the week before. Monday morning, I was preparing to teach on the topic of grace. I had felt like it was exactly what my small group of young missionaries needed because of the difficulties we had all faced the previous weeks. As I boarded the bus, my chest started pounding in pain.
Later, I found out that I had developed a condition called pericarditis—an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart where nerves are densely packed and particularly sensitive. Every time my heart beat, it felt as if a large man was shoving the full weight of his leg and body into my sternum. Each breath added exponentially to the pain. It was so bad that I couldn’t stand or sit up correctly.
As we began discussing grace, I apologized to my friends that were waiting to hear something to lift them up because I couldn’t speak very well and couldn’t stand to write on the board. So two of my friends, Chimeddavaa and Urangoo, shared experiences from their work with the large hearing impaired group they had grown to love so much. They talked to us about the power of those simple moments when, despite the exhaustion and emotional depletion of feeling that your best is not enough, God makes you strong—he makes you enough.
As they finished talking, I found the strength to stand and tell my friends that I knew that God was there, that he is aware of us, that he loves us, and that we were engaged in letting our brothers and sisters know about that love. The moment our lesson ended, I collapsed back into my chair, tears being forced from my eyes by the piercing pain in my heart which seemed to cut at every blood vessel in my body. I was at my breaking point. It was at this time that I received a simple message from my Heavenly Father—just wait. Be patient. This was not what I wanted to hear.
For three days, I sat at a 45 degree angle. Lying down put pressure on my chest. Sitting up forced my heart to work harder. I could barely speak. Peter, my good friend, took care of me. He cooked for me, organized work, and waited on me every hour of those excruciating days.
After the most physically painful three days of my life were over, I felt my heart was much stronger than before, both in a literal and figurative sense.
The mother who has spent the third night in a row tending to a crying child in the middle of the night, rocking the ever distraught baby in an effort to somehow rock away her own sadness; the anxious father, emotionally broken and physically exhausted in working three jobs to support a young family with no guarantee of where their next meal will come from; the struggling student, alone in a new place having to make a life of their own, fighting off sleep to finish their paper and study for a final exam that taxes the uttermost part of their mental capacity and their sanity; the worried parents whose child feels lost; the childless couple yearning for someone they can love unconditionally; the one who has spent hours at their bedside pleading for help on behalf of their beloved friend; the lonely and depressed soul; all these can find that, wherever they are, God can make their best enough. His grace is sufficient. He promised, “I will not leave you comfortless,” (John 14:18).
Some of the prophet Moroni’s last words bring to mind our goal to become like Christ: “Come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye 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 yet are sanctified in Christ by the grace of God,” (Moroni 10:32-33).
As we seek this enabling power daily and as we develop to become more like Christ, by the approving eye of Providence and by his will, Christ will give us what we need to make it. Take hold upon that power.
The song says it better than I:
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
As the promise says, “Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me. And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost,” (D&C50:40-42).
Grace will lead us home.
I think this is my favorite post so far. Thank you for sharing!!
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