Worthiness

We sang "In Humility, Our Savior" recently in Sacrament meeting and the last bit made me think:

Then, when we have proven worthy
Of thy sacrifice divine,
Lord, let us regain thy presence;
Let thy glory round us shine.

I love this hymn, it is one of my favorites, but I am not sure about the idea that we can somehow prove ourselves worthy. If we could, then there would be no need for an Atonement. Christ suffered precisely *because* we were unworthy. We can be redeemed only because he *was* worthy, and was the only one who was worthy.

I think too often we beat ourselves with the idea that we have to be perfect before we let Christ in, that somehow our shadows and dark corners might make him love us less, or shock him and cause him to turn away. The reality is, of course, exactly the opposite. He has experienced first hand all of our darkness, and still he is standing at the door knocking. All we have to do is let him in. 

There is great power in realizing that I, of myself, can never obtain salvation. I cannot ever perfect myself. The work is too large. When I realize this, then I can quit trying to do it *myself* and accept the grace of Christ, accept his power and his help in that perfecting process. Suddenly the weight leaves my shoulders and lands squarely on his - surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.

What is expected of us?

Abraham 3:25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

This scripture has always seemed to me to be pretty demanding, but I realized something the other day -- nothing is said about how well we do the things we are commanded. Nothing at all is said about our success.

It would appear to me that the proof is that we *will* do them, that we are willing to obey, not in our ability to do it well.

1 Samuel 16:7 - For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

That suddenly takes a huge burden of "works" off of our shoulders. I like this new understanding, as it makes my failures seem less devastating, and drives home the reality of the Atonement - that my sins of scarlet really can be as white as wool, if I am willing.