These last couple of weeks I have been thinking a lot about what I believe about God. You can see a few of my thoughts in this post. But today I want to talk about one place where I was going wrong for a very long time. Because i didn;t know God very well at all I was assigning Him human attributes. What I mean by that is I expected him to react to me similarly to how I would react to others. Of course, as I am human and imperfect, my reactions are not perfectly full of love, forgiveness and grace and so my opinions are often full of judgement.
We speak about God being willing to forgive but do we actually believe it?
I used to think that if I repented of something I had done wrong or some misteps I had made that God would definitely forgive me but that if I made that same mistake again that all of the past mistakes came back and God was judging me based on all of those past mistakes too and that I would never be fully forgiven until I was perfect. Consider how we treat each other as people. When we get upset all of the wrongs another person has done come flooding back making it so difficult to forgive that peron for the current mistakes made.
Thinking like this made it impossible for me to ever feel worthy of anything. Particularly the grace that God wanted to offer me. But all over in the scritpures we are told that when we repent out sin is forgotten. The Gospel is good news of forward movement.
D&C 58:42 Behold, he who has arepented of his bsins, the same is cforgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that ablotteth out thy btransgressions for mine own csake, and will not remember thy sins.
Hebrews10:16 This is the acovenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their bminds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where aremission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, aboldness to enter into the bholiest by the blood of Jesus,
We speak about God being perfectly loving but do we actually believe it?
Perfectly loving means unconditionally loving. It means that God loves each one of us because we are His children. Often we speak of God and we think of hm as a parent but then put human parent personality on Him. I have been guilty in the past of causeing my children to believe that my love was conditional. It’s not true but I can see why they felt that way because of a reaction I had to different situations. My reactions may have been losing patience or being angry or walking away from them when what they needed was a listening ear and a tender reaction. But my human emotions got in the way. Sometimes I would apologize later but not every time.
But when we come to God withn our mistakes He is thrilled that we would come to Him. He wants us to tell Him everything, even the messy stuff. He wants us to lean on Him. Sometimes that means He will whisper to us what we should do. Sometimes He sends another person to assist us in our turmoil. But He does always respind in a loving way if we are watching for the blessings that come when we turn to Him.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being ajustified by bfaith, we have cpeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by afaith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in atribulations also: knowing that btribulation worketh cpatience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And ahope maketh not ashamed; because the blove of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
We speak about God being always on our side but do we actually believe it?
Often we get so caught up in being independent that we refuse to ask God for help. the problem is that we were never meant to go through this life without Heavenly assistance. The scriptures are full of direction to ask, seek, knock, pray. Why would that be if we were not meant to seek counsel and help throughout our lives?
I have spent a lot of time tryingt o work things out on my own because of my opinion that God put us here to figure it out and work out things on our own even though the scriptures, when I stop to really understand, are telling me that God wants to help us.
John 11:22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will agive it thee.
Thessalonians 5:17 aPray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give athanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 aProve all things; hold fast that which is good.
How can we change?
God is a perfect being. Stop attributing imperfect attributes to a perfect being. Go to the scriptures and learn about God and how and who he really is. Then trust that He is that. He isn’t continually punishing us for past mistakes. He is celebrating every step toward Him that you take no matter how small. Make God a part of your every day life. Talk to him throughout the day. Stop worry about the perfect words or the perfect prayer format and just have a conversation. Amazingly those conversations are hugely helpful because you will begin to see the blessings that are coming to you. Look for the blessings and then thank God for them. As I have grown older I am believing less and less in cooincidences and happy accidents. God is in the details of our lives. He loves each of us individually right where we are but He also desires for us to become more. And that more begins with stepping toward Him.
Always Choose Charity 