Doctrine and Covenants 112:2-3

"Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in thine heart and with thee with which I, the Lord, was not well pleased.
Nevertheless, inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted; therefore, all thy sins are forgiven thee."
Doctrine and Covenants 112:2-3


I think this is interesting, talking about abasing yourself before God.  Abase means lower, humble... but it can also mean degrade, has kind of a negative connotation.  Seems to me a little like losing yourself to find yourself... if you lower yourself, you will be exalted.  In this case talking about things that are in our hearts that God isn't really pleased with.  If we can lower ourselves enough from our prideful heights to admit that God probably knows best... let him change our hearts, stop holding on to things that are bad for us... admit that we do need some higher guidance in our lives.  And, occasionally, that lowering does have some negative effects in our lives.  Seemingly impassable gulfs between ourselves and other people who may see things differently... and we may even lose some things in our lives that used to be part of who we thought we were... we lose some of that sense of self that we have gained over time.  But if so... know for certain that God will help you to find a better self.  That everything that you have lost, no matter how seemingly essential to your peace and well-being, those gaps that you find in your self... will be filled with stronger, brighter, better things.  Either the things that you have lost will be restored in better shape, or you will find new parts of yourself that will help you to see further and be stronger.  God never takes anything out of our lives without giving us a chance to gain something so much better that we can't even imagine it.  And, yes... it is hard.  Harder than we think we can handle sometimes.  But we, too, are stronger and better than we think we are, and God is close, watching out for us, and helping us to greater heights.  God has forgiven our sins... let us keep ourselves clean. :)