Swallowed up in the Joy of Christ

 If the church is really “true,” why are there so many imperfections in it? When people take stock of their testimony or membership in the church, one of the central questions is usually whether “the church is true.” Many events occur or questions pop up that might make us question whether the church is as “true” as we thought. Perhaps someone who seems to be a strong member of the church does something clearly against Christ’s teachings or leaves the church behind. Perhaps a leader or member of the church says something that comes off as judgmental. Perhaps some unsavory story from church history surfaces. Perhaps the current teachings of the church do not seem sufficient to answer a personal challenge or question. Does this mean that the church isn’t “true”? Recently, a phrase from the Book of Mormon struck me. The context is that pride is beginning to grow at the time. Notice a subtle distinction that Mormon makes as to where the pride enters: “...there was peace also, save it w...

  Jesus Christ atoned for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to be paralyzed by our mistakes. Once we realize that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He is infinitely patient with our weaknesses, we quickly learn to stop fearing that lightning will strike us down every time we fall short of Christ’s example. We learn to find joy in the process of learning from our mistakes and turning back to Christ so that we can improve through His help. We feel gratitude that we are given many chances to improve and become better and holier. But if we don’t fully understand the scope of what Christ did in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary, and if we don’t really understand what it means that he paid the price of our sins, the effects of what we do on others can still paralyze us, even when God repeatedly tells us that we are forgiven and pleads for us to accept His gifts and move on. Consider Kyle, who is striving to follow Christ. One day, in a particularly stressful s...