I come from generations and generations of poor, struggling and oppressed peasants whose core belief was that life is extremely hard. Because of this background I grew up believing the same and hate to say that I have not yet arrived at the point of total appreciation for my mortality. Because of the inter-generational beliefs and weaknesses that have been passed onto me, I have made choices in life which have made my life rather difficult. And because of my upbringing, I have the tendency to gravitate towards the insidious habit of complaining. I am aware of it, I sometimes try to justify it and most of the time I try to correct it but I invariably fail to eradicate it. I have concluded this is one of my thorns in the flesh. One of these days I will give it a badge. Of course not all weaknesses are as subtle as this one.
Some people consider weaknesses to be personality traits whilst others believe they were given to us that we might learn through them and grow. Whereas it is true that through them we learn the exercise of free will and accountability, their primary purpose is far greater than all that. The true purpose of our weaknesses is so that we will develop humility. The Lord Himself said "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble" (Ether 12:27). Then he proceeds to say that if we humble ourselves before Him, meaning if we come to Him, He will grant us strength through His grace to overcome our weaknesses. So why humility? Why didn't He ask something else of us so we would quality for His help? The obvious reason would be because humility means absence of pride. The proud do not accept that they even have a problem let alone that they can't lick it themselves. So humility brings us to Christ, the well of all perfection, for our improvement and refinement.
There is however, one other greater reason. Humility is a giant step towards godhood. Without it, it is impossible to get there. Think about it. Consider a god without humility. It means He would be full of pride instead. The downfall of pride is that pride seeks to elevate you above others whereas godhood seeks to elevate others to the station that you yourself are at. If God the Father was full of pride and devoid of humility He would not seek to elevate His children through the sacrifice of His Son to His station so that they could possess all the riches of eternity that He Himself has. When you and I become gods, we will not be blinded by the infinite power and riches and want to keep them for ourselves, we will instead desire the same for our children. This is where Satan misunderstood what it means to be a god. The status and power of godhood cannot endure if they are contained by one person, they can only endure if they are added upon by other gods. The Saviour Himself has said, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). So you see, our glory adds to God's glory. Without exalting his children to the status of godhood, God could not be a god.
So what are we to do with our weaknesses? Do we shrug our shoulders and embrace the way we are, not assuming responsibility? Do we cave under their heavy burden and give up, thinking it is beyond us to change? For those of us who want to excel, there is a way. When the Saviour said, "I would that ye should be perfect even as I" (3 Nephi 12:48)' He was giving us a very big clue as to how we can reach that perfection. All who believe in Him and follow Him inherit the right of access to His own perfection. We can become perfect by virtue of His perfection through the power of the Atonement. We can call upon this power to make us even as He is, so that we will know that it is by His grace that we are saved, after all we can do.....(2 Nephi 25:23)
"By the grace of God I am what I am"
1 Cor 15:10
