Walking with Christ: Day 6 - Reaching Your Potential

Good friends push you.

They push you to reach your potential.

They push you to keep your standards.

They push you be better.

But good friends also push you when you feel like you cannot go any more.

They push you when your ability to progress on your own is not enough.

Jesus Christ is the perfect Friend--especially in this aspect of friendship.

He is always our #1 supporter, defender, and advocate.

He is our greatest Exemplar and also our greatest Mentor.

He cares about our success and our happiness.

“Jesus doesn’t make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us.”

"His Grace is Sufficient" Brad Wilcox http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966

"One young man wrote me the following e-mail: “I know God has all power, and I know He will help me if I’m worthy, but I’m just never worthy enough to ask for His help. I want Christ’s grace, but I always find myself stuck in the same self-defeating and impossible position: no work, no grace.”

I wrote him back and testified with all my heart that Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done “all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). He is with us every step of the way.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen has written, “The Savior’s gift of grace to us is not necessarily limited in time to ‘after’ all we can do. We may receive his grace before, during and after the time when we expend our own efforts” (The Broken Heart [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989], 155). So grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now. It is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch (see Hebrews 12:2)." --Brad Wilcox

Reflection

Watch this inspiring video of a father who pushes his son who has cerebral palsy in all kinds of races and triathlons.

How this is like Christ pushing us in our lives?

While watching this video recall times where the Savior has carried your burdens and carried you. When are times when He has encouraged you when you lost hope?

Christ makes ALL the difference. With Him ALL things are possible. We CAN do ALL things through Him.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Phillipians 4:13

How can we show our gratitude for Him? Do we recognize His hand in our life? Do we understand His grace?

"In all of these cases there should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected” (D&C 67:13)." --Brad Wilcox

Resources