I sometimes think about the millions and billions of people who live on this earth. ⁣

Many of my brothers and sisters are doing good things.

Many of my brothers and sisters around the world even know their Savior well, and love Him.

But I am one of the few on earth who has access to ALL of the blessings of the gospel, and I have made covenants to do my part. ⁣

What a huge honor!

But then I read this warning from Alma:

“And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more tolerable for the Lamanites than for them.” (Alma 9:23)

So, other people will be judged according to their limited knowledge of anything religious, the truths they find in the Bible, or their absolute unawareness of Jesus Christ. ⁣

But I will be judged according to my wealth of knowledge about the Savior and God’s plan for me. ⁣

Immediately my brain thinks:

“Well that’s not fair!”

And then I snap out of it. ⁣

Would I really rather NOT know what I know so that I can have a supposedly easier time on Judgment Day?⁣

Absolutely not. ⁣

It’s “not fair” what privilege I have.

My light, knowledge, covenants, and friendship with Jesus are more than worth it.

“Making and keeping covenants actually makes life easier!” – Russell M. Nelson

My life right now, though filled with trials and tough stuff, is also full of covenant confidence.

I want to be held to the highest standard on that Final Day.

Because I know that my Savior can help me measure up.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Is knowing Jesus worth it?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My French skills were dismal at best, but each morning, I would pull out my English-French dictionary and write the best paragraph that I could.

After a couple weeks, she asked for us to turn in our notebooks. The next day, she handed them back.

I opened mine and found tons of red marks.

And then I realized… She had underlined everything I had written CORRECTLY in red pen.

She had also responded in very simple French to each entry with encouraging words or a personal connection.

I felt so empowered!

She was pointing out everything that I was doing right.

My accuracy was definitely below 50%.

But I suddenly felt that my teacher really wanted me to learn French.

She was on my side.

It’s a silly little story, but it’s stayed in my mind for over a decade.

She cared about me, she was on my side, and she made me want to learn French even better.

On a much grander, and much more serious scale, this is what our Savior does.

“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him”. D&C 45:3

He is looking for every single thing that we do correctly.

Every righteous desire. (Even if your actions didn’t totally line up.)

Every righteous effort. (Even if the results didn’t turn out the way we wanted.)

Every righteous action. (Even if someone else took offense.)

He is PLEADING and ADVOCATING.

For you.

He is underlining in red every single good thought, effort, action, ordinance, sacrifice, service…

He is giving you the benefit of the doubt even when the rest doesn’t quite make sense.

And the irony in it is this:

Christ being on my side and looking for every good thing that I’ve done, doesn’t make me feel like I’ve got a free pass.

In my French class, I suddenly had a natural curiosity to learn French even better so that I could communicate more clearly.

And this knowledge about my Savior motivates me to add even more goodness in my life.

Because He is my personal advocate.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My personal advocate first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.