This post is based on the following talk from Elder J. Devn Cornish - Am I Good Enough?
1. Many in the church struggle with knowing whether they are "good enough" to inherit the Celestial Kingdom. Nobody could ever be "good enough" but we do need to qualify for the Lord's grace.
As with my own experience, our members often ask, "Am I good enough as a person?" or "Will I really make it to the celestial kingdom?" Of course, there is no such thing as "being good enough." None of us could ever "earn" or "deserve" our salvation, but it is normal to wonder if we are acceptable before the Lord, which is how I understand these questions.
2. We cannot know whether we are good enough by comparing ourselves to others or by relying on the opinions of others about us.
Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don't have and by the opinions of others.
3. The only meaningful comparisons about our progress are with our former selves.
If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today-and even to how we want to be in the future.
4. We need to base our self-worth only on what Heavenly Father thinks of us. If we have work to do we will be prompted in an encouraging and loving way and never in a way that leads to discouragement or shame.
The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan's trick.
5. We will inherit the Celestial Kingdom if we keep trying and repenting and don't give up by rationalizing away our sins or rebelling. All God requires is that we keep trying and at the right time He will give us grace.
Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions "Am I good enough?" and "Will I make it?" are "Yes! You are going to be good enough" and "Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel."
What we cannot do is rationalize rather than repent. It will not work to justify ourselves in our sins by saying, "God knows it's just too hard for me, so He accepts me like I am."
From the book of Moses, we learn that Satan was cast out of heaven for rebellion. We are in rebellion any time we say in our hearts, "I don't need God, and I don't have to repent."
6. God is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game of life but is a perfectly loving Father who yearns to forgive us and bring us home to live with Him.
The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life!1 Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory.
7. God wants us to sincerely try and put forth deliberate effort towards self-improvement.
I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, "Brothers and sisters, all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!"3
"Really trying" means doing the best we can, recognizing where we need to improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we come closer and closer to the Lord, we feel His Spirit more and more, and we receive more of His grace, or help.
8. To access God's grace we must repent, ask for help and then act on any righteous promptings that come after we pray.
All we have to do to receive this heavenly help is to ask for it and then to act on the righteous promptings we receive.
9. There is no limit to the amount of times we can repent for the same sin. Every time we sincerely repent we are guaranteed continued forgiveness.
The great news is that if we have sincerely repented, our former sins will not keep us from being exalted. Moroni tells us of the transgressors in his day: "But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven."
And the Lord Himself said of the sinner: "If he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also. "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me."
If we will sincerely repent, God really will forgive us, even when we have committed the same sin over and over again. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: "However many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made ... , I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement shines."
10. While God removes the spiritual and eternal consequences of sin, He does not always remove the temporal consequences in our lives.
This does not mean in any way that sin is OK. Sin always has consequences. Sin always harms and hurts both the sinner and those affected by his or her sins. And true repentance is never easy.10 Moreover, please understand that even though God takes away the guilt and stain of our sins when we sincerely repent, He may not immediately take away all of the consequences of our sins. Sometimes they remain with us for the rest of our lives. And the worst kind of sin is premeditated sin, where one says, "I can sin now and repent later." I believe that this is a solemn mockery of the sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ.
The Lord Himself declared, "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance."
And Alma proclaimed, "Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness."
11. If we are worthy of a temple recommend then we are worthy of the Celestial Kingdom.
"Really trying" means we keep at it as we fully come up to the Lord's standard, which is clearly defined in the questions we are asked in order to get a temple recommend.
12. Elder Cornish bears his witness that you will make it to the Celestial Kingdom if you keep trying and don't give up.
I witness to you that if you will really try and will not rationalize or rebel-repenting often and pleading for the grace, or help, of Christ-you positively are going to be "good enough," that is, acceptable before the Lord; you are going to make it to the celestial kingdom, being perfect in Christ; and you are going to receive the blessings and glory and joy that God desires for each of His precious children-including specifically you and me. I testify that God lives and wants us to come home. I testify that Jesus lives. In the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.