Article December 30, 1991 Issue

Overcoming mistakes

When we need to do better, the answer isn't self-condemnation but a perception of who we really are as God's offspring.

Thomas Richard Mitchinson

Another mistake. Perhaps you've said or done something you promised yourself you'd never do again. You're angry and upset, with someone, with everyone, with no one, with yourself. Now those familiar feelings of self-condemnation and guilt flood into thought. Is there any way to stop what seems an endless pattern of both good and bad, of progression and defeat?

Understanding the spiritual fact that we are all dearly loved of God can be so helpful in turning thought away from the contemplation of human weakness and toward the discovery of our God-ordained spiritual dominion. Right now, even in the midst of the tears and confusion, we can rejoice that our real identity is not that of a sinful or stupid human being. Our true identity is the perfect child of God's creating.

We are, in reality, God's creation, His spiritual offspring. We are not actually the creation of human parents or the creation of our own mistakes or triumphs. As our hearts open to this important truth, we come to see ourselves less as a sin-prone mortal and more as an expression of God's nature.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Go ahead and lean... the right way