Personal confidence before God

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 2014 Conference.

In this session, I loved Elder Jörg Klebingat—not only for his name (probably) but also for his talk! It reminded me a lot of President Nelson's talk on confidence. He talked about how we need to keep the commandments and give our best efforts not just because we "should," but because doing that is the only thing that will give us the confidence we need to approach (and receive blessings from) God. It's so interesting to think about it this way:

The adversary knows that faith in Christ—the kind of faith that produces a steady stream of tender mercies and even mighty miracles—goes hand in hand with a personal confidence that you are striving to choose the right.

It seems counterintuitive to think that the confidence is for us—we need confidence before God and we can only get it by doing what we know we should do! It seems a little unfair when you think of it from one angle, like, "But if I were confident that I was already doing what was right, I wouldn't NEED so much help from God!" True, and Satan tries to capitalize on that:

For that reason [Satan] will seek access to your heart to tell you lies—lies that Heavenly Father is disappointed in you, that the Atonement is beyond your reach, that there is no point in even trying, that everyone else is better than you, that you are unworthy, and a thousand variations of that same evil theme.

As long as you allow these voices to chisel away at your soul, you can’t approach the throne of God with real confidence. Whatever you do, whatever you pray for, whatever hopes for a miracle you may have, there will always be just enough self-doubt chipping away at your faith—not only your faith in God but also your confidence in yourself. Living the gospel in this manner is no fun, nor is it very healthy. Above all, it is completely unnecessary! The decision to change is yours—and yours alone.

I guess it's like spiritual momentum or like the parable of the talents or like comparing the word to a seed…you do have to start with something. Desire, or effort, or a particle of faith. (I wrote about this last week too!) But once you start, it will build on itself, and each step will lead to more help from God, and each help from God will build your confidence more. But the initial moment of agency and effort from us is not optional. (And by initial I mean repetitively initial—we have to take that "first step" over and over as we gain experience and maturity and face new challenges.)

I also liked this suggestion of a way to decide to be confident even amidst trials:

When these trials come, the adversary’s minions begin broadcasting that you did something wrong, that this is a punishment, a sign that Heavenly Father does not love you. Ignore that! Instead, try to force a smile, gaze heavenward, and say, “I understand, Lord. I know what this is. A time to prove myself, isn’t it?” Then partner with Him to endure well to the end. Spiritual confidence increases when you accept that “often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into [your life] because of what [you] are doing right."

…Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don’t be immobilized by them, because some of them will be your companions until you depart this earth life. No matter what your current status, the very moment you voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to simply do and be your very best, the Savior’s Atonement envelops and follows you, as it were, wherever you go."

Isn't that a great image? Being enveloped by the Savior's atonement no matter what? Being surrounded by the tools and the power to repent immediately no matter how badly you keep falling short? And that blessing can be ours "the very moment" we decide to keep giving our best efforts to God.