I have been reflecting on the goodness of God. He has been amazingly patient with me throughout my life. He has extended many tender mercies, guided me, provided my daily bread and my daily breath. He has extended forgiveness countless times. I was reflecting on the many times I have felt the cleansing influence of the Holy Ghost as I have been cleansed from my sins. But even in those moments of forgiveness and feeling clean, I still had sins I had not yet discovered that I would repent of in the future. As I have discovered some of sinful tendencies due to selfishness, pride, or fear, sometimes I have been amazed that I didn’t recognize something so obvious sooner. How could I have been that way all those years without realizing how I was sabotaging myself. And yet, before discovering these areas where I needed to repent, I had experiences where I felt the Holy Spirit, where I felt clean, where I felt God’s love and was reassured that God approved of me. How could he approve of me when I was still so flawed? (And still so flawed).
As I considered this, I reflected on the love and approval a parent gives to a child who is just learning to walk. When a child takes those first steps, a loving parent is usually excited and laughs with joy to see the child taking those first steps. The child’s parents are not focusing on all the things the child hasn’t learned. The child doesn’t know how to get dressed, or add 2+2, or spell his name, or countless other things. But that is OK, all of that will come in time. The loving parent celebrates and gives the child a loving hug to see those first few steps. The child is loved and accepted in that imperfect state, and not condemned for imperfections and vast room for growth and improvement. However, as much as the child is loved at that moment, the loving parent wants that child to continue to improve. It is expected that over time the child will learn to talk, and ride a bike, etc. So the child is loved where the child is at, but it is expected the child will progress. If the child doesn’t progress, the child is still loved, but it becomes problematic if the child never moves beyond the toddler stage.
Perhaps this is how our loving Heavenly Parents view us. They celebrate when we improve, when we take steps in the rights direction. We feel of their love, we feel of their approval, we feel the Holy Ghost cleansing us. We are blessed by the grace and mercy of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, even though we are just toddlers compared to God. He truly celebrates each step of progression we take towards him. And yes we have countless weaknesses and imperfections yet to discover and overcome, but we are loved in every stage of our journey! We are loved where we are, but we shouldn’t stay where we are. We are expected to continue to progress. We don’t know what we don’t know, and the room for growth is endless. We need to reach upward, look upward, strive for excellence and continue to learn from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. It the grace of his Atonement that gives us the opportunity to learn through our imperfections, learn from mistakes and take those toddler steps of progression.
Lessons From The Loaves 