This book will challenge any Latter-day Saint in their
motivations for and their assumptions about salvation and exaltation. As a
result, it's a humbling read, because it gets at our most self-centered
motivations for living the gospel, even if those are unconscious to us at the
moment. I feel like what the book has done for me is given me a framework to
learn how to live the gospel more consistently as Christ would have me live it.
I have learned recently of the need to be in relation to
Christ as primary and fundamental, even over that of following doctrines and
principles rigidly as the Pharisees, who were so caught up in the law, that
they didn't come to know Christ, which is life eternal (John 17:3).
While teaching at the MTC it was very apparent that missionaries try to so hard
to be perfect on their own. They try so hard to learn all of the
lessons, and how to teach them. They want so badly to be perfect! I have tried
to help them realize that repentance and the atonement will never
be separate from their progression. That rather than trying to be perfect,
we should instead seek to deepen our faith in Christ and in His perfection! We
should quit focusing on doing all that needs to be done and instead
seek to be who He wants us to be. The focus should be far less
on not sinning and far more on repenting, and putting our whole
trust in only Him who is the author and finisher of our faith.
Lastly, and as a part to being in relation to Christ, this book has made it more apparent to me that Christ is the light in all things, and that my very breath depends on Him. I can't separate myself from or see myself independent of Him ever; even when I withdraw myself from Him in sin. My whole and being in this world is dependant on His light. To quote my favorite part of "Are We Special?" which highlights even more to me that I always am in relation to Christ:
"The first characteristic of discipleship is humility. In order to receive charity, the Disciple must first become humble... The first part of humility, which will be addressed in this section, is to recognize our dependence on Christ for all that we are and all that we do and all that we have. Paul taught the Colossians about our dependence upon Christ, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist" Colossians 1:16-17).
"In His Revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord Himself testifies that He is "the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things" (D&C 88:13).
"The Disciple acknowledges and appreciates the light of Christ as a necessary condition for every aspect of our being. The light is in us and through us and gives life to us, as it does all things, and without it we could not exist. Thus, the characteristics, activities, and talents of the Disciple cannot be understood apart from Christ and cannot come from the Disciple alone, as if the Disciple were somehow a self-contained entity. Instead, the Disciple's humility depends on Christ's humility, the Disciple's kindness depends on Christ's kindness, and the Disciple's goodness depends on Christ's goodness. Even our capacity for faith in Christ depends on Christ" (pg. 139-140).
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