"And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works."
Helaman 12:24
The whole idea of being rewarded according to our works, or really the idea here of restoration... getting grace if we have offered grace to others, as well as being restored to everything else we have done... is both amazing and terrifying. Amazing because it is perfectly just, and paired with repentance and time between action and judgement, it can also be perfectly merciful as well. Thinking about having everything that we have done to others restored to us can also be pretty terrifying, and is a good reminder about how much we need to repent, and be a lot more careful about how we treat others.
The idea of repentance also has the idea of restoration embedded in it... to try to make up for the wrongs that we have done. We can do that directly in many cases, but in situations where we can't repair what we have broken or heal what we have hurt, God reminds us to engage in good works. Even if we ourselves can't unclip a particular thread, we can work to strengthen and beautify the whole tapestry, and thus make up as well as possible for our mistakes.
Obviously, we can't make up for everything or work so hard that we become perfect or earn our way into heaven. It isn't really about that, but more about becoming good people who are concerned about others healing and helping others. Christ will make up for the things that we can't, pay our debts, and fight our battles, as long as we stick with him and have faith.
Today, let's work on our repentance and on our good works, and let's really think about the concept of restoration, and work on not doing anything that we don't want to get in return from God. And if we can progress past the not-doing-bad part, let's try some nice good things that we would be happy to get from God in return. :)
Helaman 12:24
The whole idea of being rewarded according to our works, or really the idea here of restoration... getting grace if we have offered grace to others, as well as being restored to everything else we have done... is both amazing and terrifying. Amazing because it is perfectly just, and paired with repentance and time between action and judgement, it can also be perfectly merciful as well. Thinking about having everything that we have done to others restored to us can also be pretty terrifying, and is a good reminder about how much we need to repent, and be a lot more careful about how we treat others.
The idea of repentance also has the idea of restoration embedded in it... to try to make up for the wrongs that we have done. We can do that directly in many cases, but in situations where we can't repair what we have broken or heal what we have hurt, God reminds us to engage in good works. Even if we ourselves can't unclip a particular thread, we can work to strengthen and beautify the whole tapestry, and thus make up as well as possible for our mistakes.
Obviously, we can't make up for everything or work so hard that we become perfect or earn our way into heaven. It isn't really about that, but more about becoming good people who are concerned about others healing and helping others. Christ will make up for the things that we can't, pay our debts, and fight our battles, as long as we stick with him and have faith.
Today, let's work on our repentance and on our good works, and let's really think about the concept of restoration, and work on not doing anything that we don't want to get in return from God. And if we can progress past the not-doing-bad part, let's try some nice good things that we would be happy to get from God in return. :)
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