In Doctrine and Covenants Section 76, we read of the three degrees of glory and the types of people who will merit each degree. In speaking of those who attain the celestial, or highest glory, we read in part:
Verse 53: And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
The footnote on the word “overcome” reads self-mastery.
Self-mastery has always been difficult for me. I have an addictive personality, so pretty much anything you introduce me to, I’ll be all over. I’ve got scrapbook supplies all over my bedroom, I read and watch movies voraciously, I’ve battled a food addiction most of my life—and learning to use self-mastery has seemed a nearly uphill battle. This scripture, however, gives us the key: we learn self-mastery by faith.
While faith seems like a nice, peaceful word, it actually represents focus, determination, and hard work. Faith isn’t just something that happens to us. We hunt it down, seek it out, and make it our own. From then on, every day, we must nourish it, cultivate it, and keep it alive, always remembering that the world would seek to destroy it. We must protect it at all costs.
Just like a muscle, faith must be exercised in order to stay strong. If we never use our faith, it will fade away. But the more we use our faith to help us battle the adversary, the stronger our faith will become.
It’s the same when we use our faith to help us with self-mastery. As we pray and ask Heavenly Father to strengthen us in our moments of weakness, and use our faith in Him to know it will be done, we can temper our impulses. Often, in a moment of weakness, we’ll feel a gentle reminder that there is a better way to act, and then we have a choice. Do we listen to that reminder, or do we move ahead with our impulsive behavior? The Lord will not make us be good—He will remind us to be good, but the choice is always ours. It’s what we do in that brief moment of decision that determines whether we’ll be successful or not.
The more we heed those reminders, the stronger they will come. We will be more attuned to them. We will listen more carefully, and soon we are working hand in hand with the Lord to overcome our faults, as we exercise faith in Him so we can more clearly hear Him.
We’ve been asked to give up our faults and strive to become even as He is. The Lord will never give us an impossible commandment. He makes a way for us to overcome all things through faith so we can live with Him again someday.
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