Doctrine and Covenants 101:5

"For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified."
Doctrine and Covenants 101:5


I think this is really good... comes back to the whole parental role that God has in our lives. If we can't be corrected... if we never listen to someone who has already been there... then we're doomed to make more and more mistakes. Sanctification requires us to improve, to get better, to purify. And if we keep trying to solve the same problems in the same way that continues to fail, then we aren't going forward. I'm not saying that chastening is fun... but it is a good thing, and it does bring us closer to God. And seriously, it is a lot more fun to be on track and feeling good about yourself with a little bit of hope about the future than it is to feel like you keep making the same mistake over and over and over and over again, and that life is pointless. God doesn't chasten us out of a desire to hurt us, and he doesn't delight in our discomfort. He loves us... he loves us enough to tell us when we are doing it wrong, and to help us learn how to do it right. But we have to take the first step, and listen... and then do something about it. God always prepares the way. :) So, when God lets us know that we are headed in the wrong direction... let’s not get angry and demand to go our own way. He can see the road ahead a lot better than we can, and he knows what will happen to us if we continue. We shouldn’t drive off the cliff out of pure rebellion. (ouch.) And... if we already have jumped off the cliff... maybe we should accept the rope that he throws down to us, and the healing that he offers. :)