Some months ago, my family watched Disney's UP, and my mom recommended that I pick out something inspirational from that movie to share on my blog. Little did she know that I had already picked something out. When the man in the video above prayed sincerely for the first time in years, acknowledging the existence of God and asking Him why He would want to help him, the Lord responded "Mark it's because I love you." That was the same reason Dug gave for returning to Mister Fredrickson after having been scolded, and as I understand it, it's the main reason why God does anything - because He loves us.
Sometimes, it's astonishing that God still loves us after all we put Him through. As Mark was crouching behind the bushes after robbing that convenience store, he felt like he had given up his second chance and that he didn't deserve to have a third one. Yet, because of God's great love for us, He is willing to give us as many chances as we're willing to take. God will never give up on us until we give up on ourselves, and sometimes not even then. As Elder Craig A Cardon, who spoke at the end of the video, said in his April 2013 General Conference talk, The Savior Wants to Forgive:
Even with the multitude of sins occasioned by the weakness of mortality, as often as we repent and seek His forgiveness, He forgives again and again.
Because of this, all of us, including those struggling to overcome addictive behaviors such as substance abuse or pornography and those close to them, can know that the Lord will recognize our righteous efforts and will lovingly forgive when repentance is complete, “until seventy times seven.”It's incredible to me that God's love for us is so great that it endures, undiminished, despite our many failings and mistakes. A lesser man would have less patience and would become frustrated, perhaps even angry at how human we are. I'm sure we sometimes do. Yet, because God's compassion for us is so great, because He can see our divine potential, and because He loves us so much that He wants us to come home, despite all we've done, He is willing to look past our current weakness and grant us His forgiveness far more often than we deserve it.
I am very, very grateful for the enduring love of God. There have been many times when I would have given up on myself if not for the knowledge that God hadn't given up on me. Because He loves me, I know that I can keep striving for righteousness, no matter how many times I fail, and that gives me the courage to try again every time I fall short. I have a firm testimony of the loving and forgiving nature of God. He loves us, and I know that He'll continue to love us no matter how many times we prove unworthy of His love. God believes in second chances. And because He does, so do I.
No comments:
Post a Comment