Latter-day Saints who really try — “repenting often and pleading for the grace or help of Christ” — will “receive the blessings and glory and joy that God desires for each of His precious children,” said Elder J. Devn Cornish, a General Authority Seventy.
“Let me be direct and clear,” said Elder Cornish. “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 don't 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.”
Speaking during the Saturday morning session of general conference, Elder Cornish recalled the feelings of inadequacy he had as a medical resident.
“Like my own experience, we often hear our members 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 Church members become discouraged even by sincere invitation to improve themselves, he said.
“Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others,” said Elder Cornish. “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, or even to how we want to be in the future."
Elder Cornish said 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 not discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.”
Elder Cornish said God gave His Only Begotten Son that His children 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.”
sarah@deseretnews.com @SJW_ChurchNews
