Overcoming Judgment by Changing Your Mindset

a line of pears - is one bad?

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I belong to a church that has some pretty high “expectations” for it’s members. Sometimes people call those “works” and discount the religion all together as making salvation conditional on a person’s fallible actions. I would say that the “works” interpretation of the “expectations” is not based on an abundance mindset. Christ spoke from abundance and not lack. This is what I want to talk about in this post.

First, I want to say that I have a lot of things on my to do list today, but because this idea is so important, I’m making time to write it down. I have time for what’s important and that is an abundance mindset.

The church’s high “expectations” are based on a vision of becoming. (I put expectations in quotes because sometimes we erroneously buy into the idea that someone else can “force” us to do things we don’t want to do.) If I have a vision for who you really are and what you can become, I’m going to treat you accordingly. This is true in the Church of Jesus Christ. Everyone is on “The Covenant Path” which begins at baptism. The commitments that a member makes over time help them rise up. These commitments include obedience to God’s laws, living the Word of Wisdom and living the Law of Chastity. No one is perfect at living their commitments but because everyone knows what “The Church” or a specific member expects, they make a common inference. The inference is that “I can’t please you because I’m not successful at living this standard.” As soon as we try to please someone else, we introduce shame and the “expectation” of judgement. Do you see how what a church teaches turns into my expectation of how they will judge me? This can be taken further to basically blame God for judging me too.

I don’t have to expect judgment. I’m good at cooking. If someone tells me that I can’t cook a special dish, I might reply “watch me.” I know I can cook. I’m not afraid of failure because I know my audience and I know my own ability. This might also be true for someone who owns a business and is told by an outsider what they shouldn’t do. An owner has a pretty good idea of what will work and they are just going to ignore an outside opinion. So why don’t we do that with how we choose to implement the church teachings? It’s a mindset.

If I am confident in who I am and what priorities are taking me to my next level, I don’t need someone else’s opinion about my next step. I just do it. With God and His covenants, we can expect that He will protect us and go before us. We can’t expect ourselves to be perfect. And He doesn’t either. That’s why he gave us Christ to offer His life and therefore repentance. What I need to do is trust myself more than others when it comes to where I’m at on the “Covenant Path.” I am good enough. I am worthy of God’s love at all points of my journey. I am rising up. I am giving myself permission to become better over time without expectations of how long it will take.

Does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints require “works” for salvation? The doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ is that all are saved by grace from physical death and none are “elected” for salvation. C. S. Lewis, compared grace and works to the blades of a pair of scissors. Both are necessary. To ask “Are you saved by grace or works?” is like asking “Do you cut with this blade or that one?” We receive God’s grace because of the Atonement. We can’t raise ourselves from the dead, so the Resurrection is an example of His grace. We can’t purify ourselves from sin, so the Lord’s forgiveness is another example of grace. But before He will forgive us, we must repent—that’s our part, our works. Besides repentance, our works also include receiving ordinances, keeping covenants, and serving others. While these works are necessary for salvation, they aren’t sufficient. They are not enough because we can’t live perfect lives, but we can do our best to live righteously. By doing so, we invite the Lord’s grace into our lives and qualify for the gift of salvation. We believe that we are saved by grace after all we can do (see 2 Ne. 25:23). We don’t earn salvation. Heavenly Father and the Savior will bless us with eternal life, through Their grace, if we do our part. They have asked us to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent throughout our lives, be baptized and receive other ordinances, and faithfully endure to the end. If we do that, we are promised eternal life through the grace of God. As we live our lives as they have instructed we become “new creatures.” This new mindset, ability and commitment results in new opportunities for spiritual growth, miracles and a closer connection with God. With our closer connection and greater faith, we can request blessings that God is willing to honor and He can give us personalized instructions that we are willing to act on. It’s a feedback loop that helps us rise up in strength. It is abundantly obvious to those of us on this “Covenant Path” that it is worth it. The cost of “expectations” is to leave the path, feel judged and blame God. That is not a good place to be.

a good pear prepared to delight the senses