Check Engine.

My car has served me well since I've gotten it, but it's also needed a fair amount of work. There's been some sizable investments to keep it running. Recently the check engine light has come on and has been accompanied by some other indicators that it's probably close to needing some more work.

This week I've been preparing a lesson on President Uchtdorf's recent Conference talk, "On Being Genuine." Uchtdorf invites us to evaluate the motivations that we have, and to resist the temptation to draw attention to ourselves - to become humble, genuine disciples of Christ. He presents a few hypotheticals where we have an opportunity to check the health of our spirituality and then determine where we must make changes through grace and the Atonement.

I've been thinking about how often in our lives it can be very obvious when things are in need of repair or maintenance - there are warning lights, rumblings, and clunking. It's not always as easy to recognize our own need for spiritual and character repair or maintenance. It's not always as obvious that we are breaking, that we are suffering from character weaknesses, addictions, bad habits, or that our choices are causing damage to our spirituality.

This self-evaluation is necessary since we don't have a check engine light that comes on, and that hooks up to a computer to help us diagnose the issues. It takes humility, self-awareness, patience, introspection, and effort. In a world where we can fill our attention and time with many distractions it is easy to neglect the reflection, meditation, and prayerful hours necessary to evaluate ourselves and understand the changes we must make.

I'm grateful that God is patient with me, and speaks to me when I am willing to listen.

Grace.

I've been thinking about grace from time to time over the past months. I'd like to share some of the thoughts I've had on it. Keep in mind, these are just my opinions on the subject.



According to the Bible Dictionary the main idea of grace is "divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ."

When I was younger I used to think that Christ made up for the gap between God and I. Which is technically true, but with time I've come to better understand what grace is and what it means for me in my life.

In my more limited understanding of the Gospel I fell into the mindset of "Do your best and God will do the rest!"

Like if I were running a race and 80% of the way through I was dying of dehydration and exhaustion then Christ would step in and carry me the last 20% of the race. I think this mindset was reinforced by an incorrect understanding of the scripture found in 2 Nephi 25:23 " . . . for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

I think that Nephi is teaching something different than what I first thought.

Perhaps he is teaching, "in the end, regardless of how much 'we can do' it is grace that got us anywhere, and it is grace that enabled us the whole way. So in the end, it is by the grace of God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have been saved and we have finished the race."

From my understand grace is essentially always operative (if we are turning to God and striving to make changes). Any time we accomplish something difficult or overcome a trial or temptation it is because we have been enable by grace to do so.

In step 7 in the Addiction Recovery Program (Humility) it touches on the concept of being humble enough to ask for the Father's grace, "that through Him we might maintain this new way of life."

We will always be weak during our mortal existence. Grace is the oxygen and lifeblood that enables us to make any progress or conquer any challenge. If we are humble enough to accept that we cannot do anything by our own will and power, we can experience real change and mercy through grace.

We have access to God's grace because his Son Atoned for our sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses.