New Twist on Running Faster than You are Able

Remember, remember that we are commanded not to run faster than we are able?

When we, or at least I hear or read that, I am inclined to think only about myself: "I shouldn't stress about doing more than I am asked to do (which is absolutely true -- think of Ammon/Aaron [taking too much "joy" in yourself and your accomplishments or Alma's soliloquy "Oh, that I were an angel").  But, what about everyone else?  Can you think of everybody else having been commanded not to run faster than they are able?!?

Now, apply that very same principle to everyone else" that are not running faster than they are able!  You zealot!

So stop thinking that the world should be further along than it is (even though we should all be, individually, continually improving and becoming better at keeping the covenants we've made); stop wishing that people should be better able to control themselves (and remember that you should worry about better controlling YOURSELF better!!!); stop wondering why some people (specifically and individually) aren't better than they are.  We all should be better than we are, but you need to be more charitable and stop being the world's judge and your brother's and sister's judge!

Jesus Christ, our perfect exemplar, is worried about helping them become better (and, for that matter, helping YOU become better) but not "worried about them" in the moment, but is actively helping them at being better than they are right now.  Christ is perfectly charitable--charitable for everyone--it's He that paid the price for their sins and weaknesses, paid the price for their infirmities and sadness; can't you just let Him do His job?  He is only doing it perfectly well...have you ever done job or anything as perfectly well?  Give Him and give them a break!

Do start/keep being and becoming better!  Remember all that you've already learned from the scriptures and the temple and from college and Terry Warner: As you improve and are a better person, you will be giving those around you different things to respond-to and different requests ("respond to me as a human [I-Thou], instead of an object [I-it]" and as you become more perceptive to the Spirit, you will make better choices and do and say the things that your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ would want you to do/say).

Think of your own family.  Both you and every single member of your family has been commanded not to run faster than they are able--in other words, don't try to do more than you've been asked to do and if you find yourself trying to do just that--STOP IT!!!

Be more patient.  Be more charitable.  Be more of both!

JPS

Christ simultaneously sees us as Eternal beings with an eternal end as He sees us in our sin!

God can't look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.  Yet, Christ is eternally and infinitely forgiving and compassionate.

Watch/Listen to Elder Dale Gunnar Renlund's April 2017 talk, Our Good Shepard, where he cites the example of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables comparison of the bishop of Digne to Christ and asks, "All the same, should the scabs of the sheep cause the shepherd to recoil?"

The narrator (Hugo) provides a definitive answer: NO!

"The Savior’s mortal ministry was indeed characterized by love, compassion, and empathy.  He did not disdainfully walk the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea, flinching at the sight of sinners.  He did not dodge them in abject horror.  No, He ate with them.  He helped and blessed, lifted and edified, and replaced fear and despair with hope and joy.  Like the true shepherd He is, He seeks us and finds us to offer relief and hope.  Understanding His compassion and love helps us exercise faith in Him—to repent and be healed."

Christ views sin in us as a condition that needs His treatment, care, and compassion!

"... our genuine conversion brings 'meekness, and lowliness of heart,' which invites 'the Holy Ghost [and fills us with] perfect love,' an 'unfeigned love' for others."

We need to go to those who need help--rest-homes, care-centers, homeless-shelters, soup-kitchens...  We need to be willing seek-out missionary opportunities as directed by the Spirit--also need to remember that we're not full-time missionaries or general authorities...  Get and Be out-of-our-comfort-zone!!!  Till it becomes your comfort zone...

"Understanding His compassion and love helps us exercise faith in Him—to repent and be healed...  Our role is also to help and bless, lift and edify, and replace fear and despair with hope and joy."

We can motivate people to change by our compassion and mercy, just as the Savior did!

"The Savior’s compassion, love, and mercy draw us toward Him... [And] through His Atonement, we are no longer satisfied with our sinful state.

As we understand His role, through doing as He has done, we become more like Him and naturally do more of His work, which helps us become more like Him.  ...  The fastest way to become like our Savior is to do His work--as we do His work, we will repent more and understand Him & our Heavenly Father more... 

Christ told the phrases that implied that the woman taken in-the-very-act-of-adultry, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

The woman was left alone (as those who had planned to kill her left, their consciences having been pricked) and "she was motivated to change because of His compassion and mercy."

We get further insight by the Joseph Smith translation of the bible of what happened then:

"And the woman glorified God from that hour, and believed on his name.” JST John 8:11

"God is clear about what is right and acceptable to Him and what is wrong and sinful. This is not because He desires to have mindless, obedient followers. No, our Heavenly Father desires that His children knowingly and willingly choose to become like Him and qualify for the kind of life He enjoys."

"Our role is also to help and bless, lift and edify, and replace fear and despair with hope and joy."

JPS