Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?
By Elder J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy.
As with my own experience, our members often ask, “Am I good
enough as a person?” or “Will I really make it to the celestial kingdom?” Of
course, there is no such thing as “being good enough.” None of us could ever
“earn” or “deserve” our salvation, but it is normal to wonder if we are
acceptable before the Lord, which is how I understand these questions.
Sometimes when we attend church, we become discouraged even
by sincere invitations to improve ourselves. We think silently, “I can’t do all
these things” or “I will never be as good as all these people.”….
…. we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture
ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our
self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If
we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today—and
even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is
what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks
of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s
trick.
Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am
I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good
enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do
not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking
for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father,
who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home
and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that
we might not perish but have everlasting life! Please believe, and please take
hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us
to make it! That is His work and His glory.
I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach
this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, “Brothers and sisters,
all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”
“Really trying” means doing the best we can, recognizing
where we need to improve, and then trying again….
The great news is that if we have sincerely repented, our
former sins will not keep us from being exalted. Moroni tells us of the
transgressors in his day: “But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness,
with real intent, they were forgiven.”7
And the Lord Himself said of the sinner:
“Yea, and as often as
my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.”
If we will sincerely repent, God really will forgive us,
even when we have committed the same sin over and over again. As Elder Jeffrey
R. Holland said: “However many chances you think you have missed, however many
mistakes you feel you have made … , I testify that you have not traveled beyond
the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the
infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”
This does not mean in any way that sin is OK. Sin always has
consequences. Sin always harms and hurts both the sinner and those affected by
his or her sins…. And the worst kind of sin is premeditated sin, where one
says, “I can sin now and repent later.” I believe that this is a solemn mockery
of the sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ.
The Lord Himself declared, “For I the Lord cannot look upon
sin with the least degree of allowance.”….
What we cannot do is rationalize rather than repent. It will
not work to justify ourselves in our sins by saying, “God knows it’s just too
hard for me, so He accepts me like I am.”
The other thing that will surely keep us out of heaven and
separate us from the help we need now is rebellion. From the book of Moses, we
learn that Satan was cast out of heaven for rebellion. We are in rebellion any
time we say in our hearts, “I don’t need God, and I don’t have to repent.”….
I witness to you that if you will really try and will not
rationalize or rebel—repenting often and pleading for the grace, or help, of
Christ—you positively are going to be “good enough,” that is, acceptable before
the Lord; you are going to make it to the celestial kingdom, being perfect in
Christ; and you are going to receive the blessings and glory and joy that God
desires for each of His precious children—including specifically you and me. I
testify that God lives and wants us to come home. I testify that Jesus lives.
In the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen. (Oct 2016 General Conference)
