“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your spiritual confidence before God?” —Jörg Klebingat
We have all surely asked ourselves at some point, “How do I know if God is pleased with what I’m doing?” We know the commandments, but no matter how hard we strive to be obedient, we know we could be doing better. At one extreme, the adversary may constantly remind us of our failings and persuade us that complete repentance is impossible. At the other extreme, we may fall into the trap of rationalizing that whatever we’re doing is good enough and that we don’t need to stress.
It’s difficult to know how God sees us. In “Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence,” Elder Jörg Klebingat of the Seventy gives six suggestions for how we can know where we stand and how we can further increase our confidence before God.
- Take responsibility for your spiritual welfare and don’t blame others or make excuses.
- Take care of your physical self by controlling your diet and exercise.
- Choose to obey voluntarily and wholeheartedly.
- “Become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and quickly.”
- “Become really, really good at forgiving.”
- Recognize trials and setbacks as opportunities to strengthen yourself.
Elder Klebingat testifies “of a loving Savior who is anxious for your ‘confidence [to] wax strong in the presence of God.’” As we gain this confidence, we will learn to build our self-esteem not on what the world thinks of us, but on the love we know that our Heavenly Father has for us.
Watch or read Elder Klebingat’s talk.
Source: lds.org
—Alison Brimley, Mormon Insights
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Find more insights
Read or watch Richard C. Edgley’s talk on spiritual confidence.
Read Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s devotional address on the confidence that comes from worthiness.
i have found that it is important for me to realize the difference between a healthy self-reflection with the intent of repenting and dwelling on not being “good enough.” These suggestions are helpful in keeping me on track for a healthy self-reflection because they focus me on the Savior and how I can become more like him.
I loved this talk!
Something that I really enjoy about this talk is how it helps me realize that so much of life is up to me. My attitude, my motivation. I need to decide to take care of myself spiritually and physically. These are all steps that I can implement myself.
I remember watching this talk and how I was struck by it. Sometimes it’s easy to get complacent and just go through the motions, but this talk was really an eye-opener for me. I took it as a sort of self-check. It showed me the weak spots and how I could fix them. It was a great talk, and I’m glad someone chose to cover it.
What I like about this article is that it simplifies what we need to be doing each day to feel confidence before God. If we follow those six steps, we won’t have to wonder if our efforts are good enough. I think if everyone became good at those six suggestions, we would feel the Spirit so abundantly in our lives that there wouldn’t be a question whether God was pleased with our efforts or not.
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I love these tips, I want to implement them now!