When we fall short of divine expectations, we can turn toward the Savior to be lifted up in his perfect love.
Photo by Ben White
Often we find ourselves not quite meeting mortal and divine expectations. We can become burdened with sin, shortcomings, and imperfections. We feel alone and forgotten, too weak to climb back up to the light.
But in these moments of struggle, we need not be alone. We have a loving Savior who can redeem our brokenness; he can make us whole. But we must reach out to him, as Sister Carolyn Billings admonishes in her devotional address “Are You All the Way In?” She reminds us, “It is we who need to turn and find Him. It is we who need to continue to follow His teachings. And it is we who need to ask, ‘Am I all the way in?’”
Being “all the way in” means accepting our inability to save ourselves and relying on the Savior’s love and atoning sacrifice to help us become like him. It also means working hard, even through our trials, to change who we are and turn away from the natural man (Mosiah 3:19; 1 Corinthians 2:14).
According to Sister Billings, when we’re all in, the trials we experience will help us mature spiritually. She says that “since personal growth is an intended outcome” of trials, it should come as no surprise “that our trials are focused on areas of our lives with which we seem the least able to cope.” We can have hope that we won’t be the same as we were before our trials—we will be stronger.
We simply need to live the gospel daily and consistently, which will give us the fortitude to continue on. Sister Billings says, “You are stronger than you think. Heavenly Father knows and loves each of you. If you will make sure that you are all the way in by trusting in the Lord, taking His yoke upon you, and following Him, then He will make you a conqueror.”
As Paul teaches in Romans 8:35–39, nothing can separate us from the love of our Savior and our Heavenly Father. We must have faith in Christ’s atoning power and divine assistance—we must be all in.
Read Carolyn Billings’s full address, “Are You All the Way In?,” to learn more about gaining strength through Christ.
Source: BYU Speeches
—Jess Verzello, Mormon Insights
feature image by william stit
Find more insights
To learn how you can invite the love of the Savior into your life, read Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s conference address “Abide in My Love.”
Watch the Mormon Channel video “Comfort in Trials” to discover how to find comfort during your trials.
Read or listen to Casey C. Peterson’s devotional address, “Dally Up: Finding Our Anchor in Turbulent Times,” to learn more about the role service can play in strengthening your relationship with the Savior.