In Relief Society we learned from the GC talk by Elder Christofferson (I think), with the title (~) He whom He loveth, He chasteneth. Well, despite not having the citation spot on, someone shared a FABULOUS (movie) quote that related well to what we discussed during the lesson: "God loves you exactly the way you are; but He loves you too much to let you stay that way."
What an awesome quote, right? First of all, I can just see how I can revamp it and use it in my house: Mom loves you exactly the way you are, but I love you too much to let you ____. Same goes for saying that to my husband. It could really work wonders.
But I've recently, or actually for a long time, been obsessed with the idea of progression. Constant motion. You are never stagnant in the gospel and in your relationship with Heavenly Father. I am either always moving towards Him and getting closer to Him or farther away. There is no status quo or zero slope. Anyways... This idea of progression being a key element in our lives makes me love the above quote. That of course Heavenly Father has unconditional love for us! But that doesn't mean that He doesn't give us commandments to follow, experiences to stretch and challenge us, and people who need our love and service. He loves us too much to just let us be. Instead, we need to DO something, we need to progress, be challenged, and... of course, because we are, I am, human, fallible, chastisement. He loves us is the foundation that can and should not be doubted. But I am weak, I am not perfect. He wants me to be perfect (Matthew 5:48), so... I need sometimes that swift kick in the rump to get me going or to humble me.
Chastisement is... if you want to be really optimistic about it... a gift. Because it allows us to see ourselves in all honesty and nakedness, become aware, humble, and use the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Now THAT is a gift. One I certainly need, and one, when I use it (no matter how painful or difficult or fiery an experience) is always cleansing and leads me to greater peace, a greater appreciation for my Savior, and a closeness to Heavenly Father that was previously lacking.
So, back to the awesome quote. If God didn't love us, he wouldn't correct us and help set us back on the right path. He'd just let us mosey on and ramble over to the fiery pit and stay there... if He didn't love us. But He does. He loves us too much to let us go astray without a little effort on His part to try to bring us back.
I loved Relief Society this Sunday for that.
Oh man! I love that quote! I'm writing that down. Posting it where I can see it.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have been thinking so much about progression (mostly relating to life, but also the gospel). Fretting, more than thinking. I feel like I've been stuck in a deep old rut for a long time and my life progression is at a stand still. And I don't like it. Not one bit. But sometimes we/I stop paying attention to our progression, stop making a constant, vigilant effort. We/I don't even realized that we've stopped progressing and suddenly we/I wake up one day and realize that we/I have, in fact, digressed. And that is scary.
BUT! Every day is a new day and a new opportunity for growth.
This is a great reminder to me that in all the areas of my life I need to be living intentionally, constantly progressing. No matter how small the steps I need to be moving forward.