What exactly does it mean to be saved by grace “after all we can do?” Untangling our own merit from God’s love can be confusing. Cynthia and Susan discuss ways their understanding of this principle continues to evolve and influence their spiritual lives.
Sharon Christensen
How can I get a copy of your talk on Grace? This is just what I needed and my sweet daughter who is gay needs it more. Thank you so much
Cynthia Winward
Hi Sharon! Please email us at atlastshesaidit@gmail.com and we will send it! 🙂
Michelle Kitchen
You two are my soul sisters! Grace has been my obsession for years. One life changing moment for me was on my mission I read the “after all you can do” scripture and in my mission language it actually translates to “we are saved by grace **regardless** of all we can do.” That rings true to me. Also, I gave a talk on grace and I had people lined up as well. I think we as a people are hungry for this doctrine. Thank you for discussing! I absolutely love this!!
Susan Hinckley
Thanks for listening, Michelle, and for reaching out to share! Our collective hunger for this testifies to the truth of it, imo. Keep spreading the healing message of grace! And thanks so much for listening.
Shannon Starks
This is the BEST translation of this passage, and I’d NEVER heard it before i discovered this podcast. Wow!
Katrina
Maybe part of the reason we don’t talk about grace enough is because of the emphasis on giving the work everything with your heart, might, mind & strength. I was just trying to find a scripture in Doctrine & Covenants that I thought was near the beginning. I still haven’t found it. XD Anyways there’s a big emphasis (at least in the beginning) of works. Like it’s all that’s preached. When the words “grace” and “mercy” are used, it’s in relation to God allowing Joseph Smith or a couple other people to have a certain position or power (translation). Also knowing that historically Joseph Smith continually felt like he wasn’t doing enough (if I remember things correctly), maybe the early church taught things differently. And that’s something that’s culturally been passed down, especially because I know some people used to consider D&C as a more complete gospel akin to what’s taught in the temple. Or at least that’s what I assume hearing older people talk about the gospel sometimes, depending on if they were “faithful” their whole life. If it wasn’t clear, this is me speculating.
Monica Call
My mother was raised with and raised my sibs and I with a “You have to earn my love/your sense of worth all by yourself.” mentality when it came to living the gospel and being loved by her. (My dad traveled a lot for his work so my mom was the principal parent during my growing up years.) We we’re taught the exact same thing at church after we were baptized. Having to try to earn a parent’s/Heavenly Parent’s love and then being told that you and your actions are never good enough is one of the most damaging things that can happen to a person. Period.
My mom was a raging perfectionist as a result of these teachings and as a result, so were we. I remember when my beloved music mentor stopped me in the middle of beating myself up because I hadn’t played a musical passage perfectly and told me that he couldn’t stand to hear me talk so badly about myself especially when he cared about me so deeply. Was I ever shocked! I didn’t realize that perfectionism and trying so hard to please someone else but feeling like a failure all of the time wasn’t normal. The thing is, I got the same message at church too and didn’t know any differently. When I shared this newfound knowledge and understanding with my sibs they were just as shocked as I had been!
Imagine my feeling of liberation when a non LDS friend shared the concept of grace with me as an adult for the first time. Just to be sure I went through the entire NT to see if scripture backed up what he said or if it was “false doctrine”. The fact that scripture testified of God’s grace and love over and over again surprised but thrilled me. I wanted to share this good news with everyone at church. Instead, I was disbelieved or told that I was wrong-even when I quoted scripture. How sad!
My life has been completely changed and edified by God’s grace and love. My question is this: why are the Q15 and other male leaders and some female leaders so afraid of grace? Next to the Atonement it is the greatest gift we have. In fact, the Atonement is the greatest act of grace ever! Why on earth does our church deny or pervert the concept of grace? To quote from the musical “The King and I”, “‘Tis a puzzlement.”