Remembering to use the Atonement

This is the book our book club is reading this month: Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
So far, I love it (although I am only on page 32.)

As I was reading the other night, one paragraph really struck me. The book tells of other historical figures who influenced Wilberforce. One of those was George Whitefield, who helped to bring forth Evangelical Christianity. This is what it said about Whitefield's religious beliefs:

He [Whitefield] saw that the Bible didn't teach that we must work harder at becoming perfect and holy, but that we must instead throw ourselves on God's mercy. Moral perfection wasn't the answer: Jesus was the answer. Jesus had been morally perfect and we weren't supposed to save ourselves--we were supposed to ask him to save us.

We know from revelation that we need both obedience to commandments and the Atonement to save us, but I often focus more on how well, or how poorly, I am doing and less on depending on the Savior. For instance, lately I have not been able to keep up with life like I want to. Actually, if I really think about it, I have never been able to keep with life the way I would like. But, in the past, I always recognized that was because I was pregnant or nursing (or both!) and so would rely heavily on the Savior to make up the difference. I remember spending much time on my knees, praying that the Savior's Atonement would make up for my many, obvious weaknesses and shortcomings. But now I am not pregnant or nursing. I don't have any excuses, and yet I seem to be less capable than ever! Or at least that is how it has felt. I have been so discouraged that I can't seem to do better or handle more or overcome these persistent weaknesses.

I was feeling this way the other night when I read that quote from the book. Then I remembered the Savior! That's right--I don't have to do it all on my own! The Savior is still there, He is still perfect, and His Atonement is still at my disposal. Maybe it is even more at my disposal than ever before because I am not justifying why I am not perfect. I am just admitting it and admitting my dependence on His perfection to make up for my lack of it.

Don't you just love the Gospel?!