Though we may experience different challenges and opportunities, we each have divine potential and the ability to choose the right direction for our lives.
At times we may feel that our starting place determines our destiny; feeling that we’re already behind, we lose hope in leading a successful life. I learned a powerful lesson on this topic from my mission president in Spain when he pleaded with us to focus on becoming “higher and holier.” His plea has stayed with me for the past three years and has helped me recognize my own divine potential.
PHOTO BY ROGER ANTUNES
In his talk “Becoming More in Christ: The Parable of the Slope,” Elder Clark G. Gilbert teaches a similar principle. He compares our progress to a line. On a mathematical graph, a line’s positive slope shows a consistent forward and upward progression. We can similarly create a positive slope of personal progress regardless of where life’s circumstances have placed us. Elder Gilbert says, “In the Lord’s timing, it is not where we start but where we are headed that matters most.” As we find direction by counseling with the Lord, Christ enables us to mark our trajectory toward our potential with faith, confidence, and belief in God’s love.
Although we often hold high aspirations for the future, we can still stumble or lose hope. We may doubt our ability to improve, or we may even question the Lord’s love for us. Christ believes in our potential. His love for each one of us is infinite, but with this love and belief comes a high expectation that we work to create a positive slope toward our divine potential.
My mission president understood this principle. His plea to become “higher and holier” filled our hearts with hope. We began to repent more easily, feed our faith, and make our “confidence wax strong” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45). This principle is just as true for us today as it was for me while serving as a missionary in Spain. When we focus on improving ourselves through exercising the power of Christ, our slope stretches high, and we start heading in the right direction.
Discover Elder Clark G. Gilbert’s suggestions for encouragement and counsel in “Becoming More in Christ: The Parable of the Slope.”
Source: General Conference
—Rachel Roberts, Latter-day Saint Insights
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Find more insights
Understand the depth of God’s love by reading the LDS Living article “How to Feel God’s Love When You Don’t Feel Worthy of It” by Lindsey Miller and the Latter-day Saint Insights article “You Are Worthy of God’s Love” by Alyssa Anderson.
Look into the blessing of repentance through Brother Stephen W. Owen’s general conference talk “Repentance Is Always Positive.”