See [Ourselves] as [We] May Become

This weekend, I had the wonderful privilege of attending an Elder's Quorum meeting in which my brother-in-law, Ryan, was giving the lesson. This was a special privilege because I don't get to see Ryan very often, much less hear him give a lesson, and because it was a really good lesson. Teachings For Our Times lessons are usually really good, but this one in particular had a special resonance in me that I'd like to share with you.

The title of the original message is "See Others as They May Become." It was given by President Thomas S. Monson in October of 2012. But as you can see in the title of this blog post, I heard President Monson's/Ryan's message from a different perspective.

Anyone who has read my blog more than a few times knows that I'm often down on myself. I sometimes doubt my self-worth, and during those times, I'm grateful for those of you who have left comments of comfort and support. When President Monson started his talk by saying that a woman needs to be told that she is beautiful, valued, and worthwhile, and that "men are very much like women in this regard," I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Most of my bad feelings about myself stem from what I've done, what I've failed to do, and what I continually fail at doing. I generally feel incompetent, and therefore worthless. But President Monson and my brother-in-law were teaching important principles when they gave their lessons, one of which was that "people can change. They can put behind them bad habits. They can repent from transgressions. They can bear the priesthood worthily. And they can serve the Lord diligently."

Something that I need to remember, as I've probably mentioned several times before, is that I have great potential, even if I can't always see it and don't always believe it. Even though I haven't been, and am not now, the way that I'd like to be, that doesn't mean I have to stay that way. I can change, improve, and reach my potential.

In his talk, Presiden Monson shared the following story:

During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden, Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his prison. Said one critic, “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!”
Replied Warden Duffy, “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.”

President Monson went on to say that many people just need some encouragement. Some people just need someone to believe in them, and they'll live up to their potential. My guess is that some people just need to believe in themselves.

As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we were born with infinite potential, and something that's important to remember is that we still have that potential! We can still be everything that our Heavenly Father wants us to be.

As Mom and I were driving back home yesterday, we listened to many General Conference talks, including Elder Holland's talk about Laborers in the Vineyard. He taught that a certain land-owner went out to hire workers early in the day, then again at mid-day, then at mid-afternoon, and finally at the "eleventh hour" which was about as close to the end of the working day as they could get. Each time, he hired more workers, and all of the workers, regardless of when they joined the work force, were well-paid.

The moral of the story (or one of them,) is that no matter how much time has been lost, there is still enough time to change, as long as the Savior says there is still time. No matter how many opportunities we've ignored or lost, just like yesterday morning, God will give us more and more opportunities to do the right thing, to change ourselves, and to live up to our potential. Our all-powerful Heavenly Father wants us to succeed, and He's willing to pull quite a few strings to make that possible for us. We will always be required to make the choice and the change ourselves, but God will always give us opportunities to do that.

President Monson shared the story of a missionary who experienced great success by picturing his investigators and potential investigators as being clean-shaven, well-groomed, and dressed in baptismal clothing. Ryan added that he tries to see people as robed with Celestial Glory. By picturing others as they may become, we are able to treat them differently. By picturing ourselves as we may become, we're able to treat ourselves differently.

As President Monson taught (and I hope that he'll forgive me for adding [inclusions] to his original words):

We have the responsibility to look at our friends, our associates, our neighbors [and ourselves] this way. Again, we have the responsibility to see [all] individuals not as they are but rather as they can become. I would plead with you to think of them [and yourselves] in this way.

As we do, we can gain the kind of perspective that our Heavenly Father has. I'm sure that when He looks at us, He sees us as we may become. As we look at ourselves and each other as we may become, we'll gain more Christ-like feelings for ourselves and for others, which can motivate us to live up to our potential and encourage others to do the same.