Christ Saves Us Because We Can't Save Ourselves

Reading: BD Atonement and attending scirptures, especially Moses 5:8, Mosiah 13:28, Mosiah 13:32, Mosiah 2:20-25

Recently I wrote about perfectionsim and how part of the reason we become perfectionists is a misunderstanding of the Atonement. This particular misunderstanding seemed to be especially in my thoughts today as I read through the entry for Atonement in the Bible Dictionary.

Sometimes people (including me) get the idea that is all up to us to save ourselves by getting rid of sin. This can lead to pride if you think you're doing a good at it, or depression if you think you're doing poorly. However, it is not up to us to save ourselves because we are totally and wholly dependent on Christ for our salvation. Christ helps us to overcome our sin and also saves us from our sin, the only thing we are required to do is to work at it and accept his help. King Benjamin does a really great job of explaining this in Mosiah 2:20-25:

I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace on with another--
I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another--I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandment ye should prosper in the land, and he never doth very from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandment he doth bless you and proper you.
And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he that commanded you, for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have y to boast?
And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

The Savior wants to help us overcome our sin. He does not want us to do it ourselves, because he knows we cannot. We are saved only through Christ, and not through our own efforts.

Last time I wrote about perfectionism I said that when I started to get down on myself for some old bad habit or persistent weakness of mine I would stop, say a prayer asking for help in overcoming that particular problem, and then move on to thinking or doing something more positive. Over the past couple weeks as I have done this I have felt so much better about myself and about the gospel. I still have my weaknesses, but I know that God will help me overcome them and that there is no point in beating myself up about them all the time. I still get feeling down on myself sometimes, but not as often.

So, today I am going to keep that up! Each time I catch myself getting down on myself for some problem or weakness that I have, I am going to say a prayer asking for help with that item and then find something else more positive to think or to do. And, I'm going to try and also be grateful for the Atonement and think that I don't have to save myself from this sin because the Savior has provided the way for me to repent and overcome it with his help.

Are there any other scriptures you have found that show how totally dependent we are on the Savior for salvation? Or, is there an experience or insight you had that helped you see your dependence on the Savior that you wouldn't mind sharing?

Atonement: Basis of Church Doctrine

Reading: "The Atonement of Jesus Christ," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, jesuschrist.lds.org

If you haven't yet, you should check out the church's new site, jesuschrist.lds.org. This site was created to help show that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is indeed centered on Christ.

In an article on the Atonement found on that site, Elder Holland states:

Indeed the Atonement of the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh is the crucial foundation upon which all Christian doctrine rests and the greatest expression of divine love this world has ever been given. Its importance in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be overstated. Every other principle, commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this pivotal event.

A study of the basic doctrine of our church is always taught around the Atonement. First, someone might learn about the Fall of Adam, which is the reason we need the Atonement. Or, someone might learn about the plan of salvation, which revolves around the Atonement. Or, someone might learn about repentance, which is possible because of the Atonement. Even the behavioral aspects would be pointless without the Atonement, because we would all be damned anyway for past sins and there would be now way we could improve ourselves.

When you realize how central the Atonement is to everything, it thus becomes apparent why we focus so much on Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus Christ we are saved. We go to Jesus Christ for everything, for teaching, for repentance, for help and understanding. We are the church of Jesus Christ in every way.

This is something I have not always understood. Sometimes, I think, the centrality of Jesus Christ can get lost in all of our teachings. We talk about faith and hope and tithing and missionary work love and humility, and those things are easier to understand than the Atonement and the role of Jesus Christ. This must be why the Church does so much to keep us centered on Jesus Christ.

Yesterday when I was thinking about ways I can increase my disposition to do good, one of the things I came up with is putting up pictures of the Savior in my house. So, today, I am going to stop by the Distribution Center here in Provo and pick up a picture of the Savior and put it on the wall someplace it will be seen all the time. Then when I see it I can think about how central the Savior is to everything.

I am wondering, do you ever have trouble grasping the importance of the Savior in our teachings? What experiences or lessons have been effective in helping you to understand how central the Savior and Atonement are to the gospel?

Disposition and Doing Good

Reading: "A Disposition to Do Good Continually," Spencer J. Condie, Ensign, Aug 2001

It is my belief that repentance extends farther than just the big sins. Sometimes when we talk about repentance we think about big sins like fornication or breaking the word of wisdom. However, we are required to repent of all of our sins, and for most of us those sins are small--things like losing patience with a stranger who has done something that bothers you, or forgetting to say your prayers in the morning, or things like that. The Atonement allows us to change even these small things so that we can become more like the Savior.

So, seeking an article about applying repentance to your every day life, I found Elder Condie's article. He talks about how cultivating a disposition to do good will make it much easier to take care of those small things. When we change enough we will no longer even want to do those little sins that plague us from day to day.

While reading this article I must confess I began to feel overwhelmed. Elder Condie listed so many things, like going to the temple regularly and always remembering to read your scriptures and using your free time to do only really good things, that I have trouble remembering sometimes. I thought, clearly I do not have what he is talking about because if I did then I would not have problems with these little things.

Then I thought back to Elder Samuelson's article on perfectionism I read last week. If we truly have no diposition to do evil then we will be perfect. It is a great, wonderful thing we should work on every day. But, we cannot expect ourselves to be that way right now. The important thing is that I am progressing in relation to myself, not how I compare to others.

I do know that when I cultivate in myself a disposition to do good my whole life becomes much much better. When I think back to times in my life when I was really seeking to do good, I can see how that effort cultivated in me a disposition to do good continually. And, when I had that disposition to do good all of these little sins didn't go away, but they did become easier. I was able to repent of some and move on to others and feel good about all of it.

Today I am going to ponder how I can continue to cultivate in myself a disposition to do good. I know that this program of scripture study is really helping my disposition to do good. Also, I remember ways that have helped me in the past. For example, I remember when I was attending devotional every week while I was attending BYU-Idaho it was a huge boost in my disposition to do good. Maybe I can find something similar for me to do now.

What in your life helps you to cultivate a disposition to do good continually? Can you think of times in your life when doing good was easier for you, and see perhaps why that was so?

Salvation Through the Atonement

Reading: "The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope," James E. Faust, Liahona, Jan 2002

If we focus on the Savior by focusing on his teachings, then perhaps the most important teaching for us to understand is the Atonement.

The subtitle of this article reads:

Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully.

Often, I don't feel like I really understand or appreciate the Atonement. However, I'm not sure how to go about understanding it better. After all, I've been going to church my whole life and in that time learned many things about the Atonement. What more can I do than what I have done to understand and appreciate the Atonement? So, today I sought out information about the Atonement in an effort to deepen my understanding.

In the article President Faust outlines several facts about the atonement. He talks about:

• It is only through the Atonement that we are saved
• Learning about the Atonement brings us closer to the Savior
• Through the Atonement Christ pays the price we cannot pay for our sins
• Christ suffered greatly as part of the Atonement, both in spirit and body
• Only Christ could perform the atonement because of his divine attributes
• The Atonement requires us to do all that we can to repent and then makes up for what we lack
• No one can understand how much pain the Savior suffered through the Atonement because it is infinitely more than we can experience
• The Atonement also helps victims by helping them to forgive
• The ultimate blessing of the Atonement is to return to live with God

When I think about the Atonement it motivates me to repent. Appreciation for what the Savior has done motivates me to repent. And, the knowledge that it is the only way I can return to God motivates me to repent. When I repent I am then accepting the Atonement. So, having gone through that thought process I now realize how learning about the Atonement helps me to believe and accept and act on it.

Today I'm going to ponder what I understand about the Atonement. If I come up with anything that I would like to understand better, I will use it as future scripture study topics.

How does the Atonement affect your life? Not just on the big things, but in your day to day life? What would you like to understand better about the Atonement?

Look Unto Me in Every Thought

Reading: Topical Guide - Thought, especially 1 Chronicles 28:9, Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:24-34, D&C 6:36

Today I decided to peruse the topical guide contents for thoughts or thinking. I quickly found that the "Thought (noun)" entry was much closer to what I was looking for than the "Think, Thought" entry.

While going through these scriptures I came up with several themes that struck me.

• God knows our thoughts on an intimate level. Our minds are open to him to see. See 1 Chronicles 28:9
  
• The Savior's thoughts are higher than our own thoughts. If our thoughts partly determine our righteousness, than surely God's thoughts are infinitely more righteous than our own. See Isaiah 55:8-9
  
• Those scriptures that talk about our thoughts often are talking about having faith and not worry about bad things that might happen. See Matthew 6:24-34 and D&C 6:36.

We usually think about our thoughts as private, and rightly so because no one else can read our thoughts. However, the fact that our thoughts are open to God helps me to see that it really is important to watch my thoughts. Some of the thoughts I entertain, such as impatient or selfish thoughts, are really not things I would like to parade before God.

Also, I find the "take no thought for the morrow" statement by the Savior particularly interesting in this context. We are asked to plan ahead and to prepare for whatever may come. But, God doesn't want us worrying or becoming obsessed with things of the world. I know in the past I have often spent a lot of energy worrying about things in my future that I really can't control. But, lately especially, I've been able to worry less about those things and I have been blessed by that increase of faith.

I've written a lot in the past week about thinking about the Savior and how to better control our thoughts. We want to be focusing on the Savior in our thoughts every day. However, we should not be demanding perfection of ourselves right now. Good thoughts helps us to be happy, help us to be more Christlike, help us to be more grateful, and help us to be less fearful. It has been a great topic to study and a great start for my new study plan. I really feel that I have learned a lot and what I have learned has made a difference in my week.

Do you have any experiences where changing how you thought made a big difference for you in some situation that you would like to share? Or, do any of the scriptures I shared or that you might have read about thoughts give you a different insight than what I shared?

Be Ye Therefore Perfect - Eventually

Reading: "What Does it Mean to be Perfect?", Cecil O. Samuelson, New Era, January 2006

I have already shared how asking "what would Jesus do?" affected me in a positive way. You can read about that in my last post.

However, a negative side effect I found of asking all the time "what would Jesus do?" was that I kept comparing myself to someone who is perfect. I found myself thinking, "Christ would not even have that problem because he never would have done the stupid things that got him there, and I am just messed up." This was not an uplifting way of thinking.

Thus, I thought today it would be good to read an article on perfectionism. This particular article is an old favorite of mine.

Perfectionism is not humility, and it is not of God. It is when we get so down on ourselves about what is wrong with us that we lose sight of the more positive aspects of the gospel. It is a serious problem and can have serious consequences. If you think you have this problem, I highly encourage you to review the list at the end of this article because it does a good job of showing the difference between perfectionism and humility.

One thing I often find myself doing when I start to struggle with perfectionism is that I get the idea that I have to get rid of what weaknesses I have before I can be worthy of God's help. If we look at Ether 12:27 we can see this is not the case:

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.

God wants us to be perfect, but he also wants to help us get that way. If we are willing to ask for and receive God's help with problems, that is the point he will start helping us. What a beautiful thought! God does not just leave us to work out our own problems, but rather is ready to take us by the hand and lead us back to where we need to go.

Today I am going to try to take a different approach when I encounter problems. Rather than getting down on myself, I'm going to try and say a little prayer asking for God's help and then I'm going to find something more positive to think about or do.

I think everybody struggles with perfectionism at some point in their life. What ways have you found to help you deal with perfectionism? Do you have any insights that let you know when you have stopped being humble and started being a perfectionist?

What Would Jesus Do? Follow Up: The Dishwasher

Yesterday I said I would ask myself throughout the day "What Would Jesus Do?" and report to you if anything happened. Well, something did happen.

We live in a little apartment that is a good size and a good price, but is also old and kind of falling apart in places. Our landlord has always taken the approach of doing the minimum necessary to fix any problems that come up. He's not a bad landlord, or a mean landlord, but he's not a great landlord either.

So, the other day when our dishwasher stopped working I was a little surprised (and annoyed) when the message I got back from the landlord was that according to our contract we are in charge of any dishwasher repair. Once I thought about it I remembered reading something about appliances in the contract way back when we signed it, but it did strike me as the landlord being cheap yet again.

I also should share the fact that the landlord has our apartment up for sale. Someone could buy the apartment tomorrow and we could be moving any time. Or, nobody could buy it for years. Or, someone could buy it as an investment property and want us to keep living in it. We really have no idea.

So, my first response was to do the absolute minimum to the dishwasher to fulfill our contract. After all, it's wasn't as if the dishwasher worked very well to begin with. At first, I wanted to just not fix the dishwasher and leave it until we moved, but we really couldn't get away with that under the terms of the contract. My next preference was to spend the absolute minimum to get the dishwasher to what could be called "working" again.

Then, while pondering this, I asked myself "What would Jesus do?" I realized I had the totally wrong attitude. Just because our landlord does the least he can, didn't mean I should act the same way. What I should do is live up to what I promised to do and really fix the dishwasher. And, if we did end up moving in a week then I would be doing a service to the people who moved in, rather than a disservice. Service is good, right?

I don't know that my attitude change had a huge effect on the outcome of the situation. We had already decided it would be cheaper to buy a used dishwasher on craigslist than it would be try to get someone to repair it. Perhaps I would have tried harder to convince my husband to buy the cheaper, more questionable dishwasher rather than the more expensive, but definitely fully working dishwasher.

The real effect came inside me. I felt so much more at peace about the whole situation once I decided to do the right thing. I no longer felt angry at the landlord. I felt better about the prospect of moving. I knew I was doing the right thing and it made me happy.

What Would Jesus Do?

Reading: "Think on Christ", Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, April 1984, and Mosiah 4:29-30 & D&C 6:36

Continuing today the theme of how to focus on Christ, I read an article today by Ezra Taft Benson on how to keep Christ in our thoughts all the time. He stated that since our thoughts determine what we become, it is important that we keep our thoughts Christlike.

If thoughts make us what we are, and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts.

There are many scriptures that talk about thoughts, as well. I was especially affected by Mosiah 4:29-30 and D&C 6:36. Clearly, what we think is important. While it is very hard or impossible to control what thoughts pop into our head, we can control what thoughts we dwell on. The less credence we give to bad thoughts, and the more we surround ourselves with good things, the less bad thoughts will pop up.

President Benson then shared a story of people who chose to ask "What would Jesus do?" each time they had to make a decision. In each person's life asking this question had bigger consequences than they expected, resulting in the person becoming much more Christlike. It helped me realize that while "WWJD" has become somewhat cliche, the spirit behind the sentiment is one that should still be important to all of us.

One thing I have learned in trying to "control" one's own thoughts, is that the harder you try NOT to think about something, the more you think about it. So, if one has a bad thought come into their mind and the person reacts by shouting in their head, "STOP THINKING ABOUT _____ RIGHT NOW!" they will never get rid of that thought. They will only make themselves feel much, much worse and perhaps they will wonder what is wrong with them that they cannot stop thinking such awful thoughts. However, if we try to remove a bad thought by simply replacing it with a good thought, such as a hymn or the question, "What would Jesus do?" then we will be much more successful. The less time and effort you spend on the bad thought, the better.

So, today, I am going to try applying what President Benson suggested and ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" each time I make a choice. I am really not sure what to expect, and the more cynical part of me thinks not much, but if anything of interest does happen I'll share it with you tomorrow.

Do you have any ideas on how to keep your thoughts Christlike? Or, do you have an experience where pondering on "What would Jesus do" made a difference in your life?

Remembering What God Has Done For Us

Reading: "O Remember, Remember", President Henry B. Eyring, Liahona, Nov 2007

So, continuing today on the theme of focusing on Christ I chose to read Elder' Eyring's article about remembering what God has done for us. In the article Elder Eyring shares how as a parent he kept a journal recording the things that God had done for his family each day. Then he gave copies of that journal to his children when they were grown. That journal is an inspiration to his whole family today.

He then talks about how easy it is for us to forget how blessed we are by God. We forget when we are prosperous because everything seems so common place. We forget when we are suffering because we are so consumed by how bad things are we forget to see what is good. Throughout all of the history of the Earth mankind has struggled to remember God's goodness.

The key to remembering the Savior in our daily lives, he says, is in having the Holy Ghost to be with us. The Holy Ghost will help us to remember times throughout our lives that God helped us. We must then strive to be worthy of the Holy Ghost's presence.

Elder Eyring then challenges us to pray for help in seeing God's hand in our daily lives and then "preserve that memory" for us and for future generations.

I know that this is definitely a good thing to do. Just yesterday, as I was writing in my journal about my scripture study, I realized that focusing on Christ means focusing on his teachings. For some reason I got the idea that focusing on Christ meant thinking about his person, his appearance, his personality, and his opinions. After all, if I were going to "focus" on someone I know, that is what I would focus on.

However, we don't really know those things about Christ. What we do know is what he taught, and that is what is most important. When we learn Christ's teachings, then we learn about who he is and we learn to love him. When we focus on Christ, it means we seek to learn and exemplify all that he taught. What a great insight, and I would not have gained it had I not taken the time to write down my scripture study experience.

What has God done for you lately that you maybe haven't noticed up until now? And/or, do you have any good ideas on ways to preserve that experience for future remembering?

Questions and Answers, Liahona, December 2001, 25

Last Sunday in Relief Society we had a lesson on "loving life and learning." During the lesson we discussed at length how to love life and learning. During this discussion someone shared an insight that I have been thinking about since.

She shared a story of a friend who was not enjoying her mission. Her friend was disturbed by how unhappy she was and talked to her mission president about how to become happier. Her mission president told her to stop worrying so much about being happy and to focus on the Savior. Once the missionary did this, she did not have any more problems with happiness for the rest of her mission.

This story resonated with me because I often find the harder I try to make myself be happy, the worse I feel. It makes sense that focusing outward on the Savior would make one happier than just trying to be happy.

So, then, how do I focus on the Savior? I searched lds.org and found in Questions and Answers many answers to the question "How can I keep my thoughts centered on Jesus Christ during my daily activities?"

Answers they gave included:

• Strive to be obedient
• Pray
• Study the scriptures
• Serve
• Attend the temple and other Church meetings

I also enjoyed reading church member's stories about how they focus on Jesus Christ throughout the day. It helped me to realize that I definitely could do much better about focusing on the Savior as I go through my daily activities.

So, I am going to resolve to think more about the Savior as I go through my day. I'm going to especially try to find ways to be more Christlike as I attend to my daily things. Perhaps I could be a little more patient with my husband? Perhaps I could think about the deeper meaning of a problem rather than just complain?

What do you do to keep your thoughts focused on the Savior throughout the day? Or, what do you plan to do to get better at this important key to happiness?

New Study Plan

I'm sorry for the big gap in posts. I've been thinking seriously about how I want to approach my scripture study and how I can really gain the most from it.

There are three things I wish to accomplish from my scripture study:

1 - Motivate myself to change
2 - Gain factual knowledge
3 - Gain faith in the gospel

I have realized that my current study plan is mostly focused on number 2, and numbers 1 and 3 are only a by-product. I would like to change my study plan so it helps me achieve all three goals.

After pondering it, I've decided my scripture study needs to include the following things to help me achieve all three by products from my scripture study.

1- Invite the spirit
2- A quiet environment
3- Beginning with a prayer
4- Focusing on personal application
5- Writing down what I have learned
6- A humble, teachable attitude
7- A regular time each day to study
8- Flexibility so I can work around family needs
9- Quantifying what I have learned such that I could share it with others

So, from now on my entries are going to be very different. Rather than sticking with the lesson plan from Doctrines of the Gospel, I am going to find something to read each day that pertains to things going on now in my life. This could include any of the standard works, general conference addresses, articles from church magazines, or books on church doctrine.

I will then write up a semi-personal application to share on this blog. If someday I actually have anyone reading this blog, I'd love to encourage comments and discussion based on the entries.

So, we'll see where it goes from here...