“Many people feel discouraged because they constantly fall
short. They know firsthand that ‘the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak’ [Matthew 26:41; They raise their voices with Nephi in proclaiming, ‘My
soul grieveth because of mine iniquities’ [2 Nephi 4:17]” ….
“I wonder if sometimes we misinterpret the phrase ‘after all
we can do.’ We must understand that ‘after’ does not equal ‘because.’
“We are not saved ‘because’ of all that we can do. Have any
of us done all that we can do? Does God wait until we’ve expended every effort
before He will intervene in our lives with His saving grace?” ….
If grace is a gift of God, why then is obedience to God’s
commandments so important? Why bother with God’s commandments--or repentance,
for that matter? Why not just admit we’re sinful and let God save us?
Or, to put the question in Paul’s words, “Shall we continue
in sin, that grace may abound?” Paul’s answer is simple and clear: “God
forbid.”
Brothers and sisters, we obey the commandments of God--out
of love for Him!
Trying to understand God’s gift of grace with all our heart
and mind gives us all the more reasons to love and obey our Heavenly Father
with meekness and gratitude. As we walk the path of discipleship, it refines us,
it improves us, it helps us to become more like Him, and it leads us back to
His presence. “The Spirit of the Lord [our God]” brings about such “a mighty
change in us, … that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good
continually.”
Therefore, our obedience to God’s commandments comes as a
natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God.
This form of genuine love and gratitude will miraculously merge our works with
God’s grace. Virtue will garnish our thoughts unceasingly, and our confidence
will wax strong in the presence of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, living the gospel faithfully is
not a burden. It is a joyful rehearsal--a preparation for inheriting the grand
glory of the eternities. We seek to obey our Heavenly Father because our
spirits will become more attuned to spiritual things. Vistas are opened that we
never knew existed. Enlightenment and understanding come to us when we do the
will of the Father.
Grace is a gift of God, and our desire to be obedient to
each of God’s commandments is the reaching out of our mortal hand to receive
this sacred gift from our Heavenly Father. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Gift of
Grace,” 110).
