“The Positive Difference Christ’s Grace Can Make,” For the Strength of Youth, Mar. 2024.
Strength to Overcome Sin
The Positive Difference Christ’s Grace Can Make
When we understand that the Savior’s grace isn’t earned and that it is always available, amazing things can happen in our lives.
Illustrations by Jarom Vogeln
When I served as a bishop, it was amazing to see the relief young people felt as they met with me to confess a sin as part of their repentance. Still, I couldn’t help but notice a recurring pattern: young people would confess, feel better, and then—despite their best intentions—mess up again. Then they would confess, feel better, and mess up again. After three or four times through that cycle, they would often give up.
I was grateful that these young people had been taught that Jesus Christ, through His Atonement, offers them a chance to repent and begin again. However, I worried that perhaps they did not understand enough about another blessing the Savior offers: His grace—the enabling power1, divine help, and “endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted beings.”2
I determined to teach more clearly, as President Russell M. Nelson has taught, that “repentance … is a process”3 that often takes time and repeated effort.4 I wanted the members of my ward to know God meets us where we are and offers grace to help us throughout the entire perfecting process, however long it takes.
How Understanding Grace Helps You
A few years ago, a study of over 600 young adults at Brigham Young University showed that those who knew about and understood grace reported lower levels of depression, anxiety, shame, and perfectionism.5 A follow-up study showed that a belief in grace was linked to higher levels of gratitude, self-esteem, meaning in life, satisfaction with life, and optimism.6
In other words, people feel less shame and more self-esteem when they understand that grace is available right here and right now—not after we earn or deserve it. When we know that God helps us no matter what we have done or how many times we feel we have let Him down, we feel inspired to keep trying.7
“I’ve Let Heavenly Father Down”
Recently a missionary was injured during a preparation-day sports activity and was sent home to recover. He had high goals for getting the physical help he needed and then returning to his mission. However, too much unstructured time alone soon led to a relapse of old habits.
He indulged in sin that he thought he had repented of and left behind him before his mission. He was discouraged and upset about his lack of self-control. The more depressed he became, the more he sought escape in those bad habits. It was a downward cycle that was getting him nowhere fast.
“I feel like I’ve let Heavenly Father down,” the young man told his priesthood leader. “I repented of this before, and God forgave me. I promised never to do it again, and yet here I am as if I had never repented in the first place. I don’t deserve God’s forgiveness or help. Not now. Not ever.”
His priesthood leader said, “Then aren’t you glad to know grace is a gift? You don’t have to earn or deserve it. You simply need to choose to receive it by being willing to keep trying and not give up.”8 The leader then shared these words of Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “We may slip back at times, but let us quickly and humbly return to our knees and move again in the right direction.”9
Once more, the young man turned toward heaven, and the Savior was there to help. Not only did the young man’s injury heal, but so did his heart. One small goal at a time, and with the grace made possible by Jesus Christ, he began to improve. Soon he returned to his mission full of gratitude, self-worth, a sense of meaning, satisfaction with life, and optimism. That is the difference Christ’s grace can make.