“The Power We Call Grace,” For the Strength of Youth, July 2022.
Life Help
The Power We Call Grace
God’s grace can help us, no matter what challenges we face.
Photograph from Getty Images
I attended the funeral of a former ward member who died by suicide after a long struggle with depression. My heart broke as I mourned her loss with her friends and family.
Depression and other mental health challenges can be complex and difficult for the people who deal with them and for all who love them. The good news of the gospel is that Christ offers hope and help through His gift of grace.
A study involving 600 young adults at Brigham Young University showed that those who understood the grace of Jesus Christ had lower levels of depression, anxiety, perfectionism, and shame.1 What did these young people understand about grace that made such a significant difference in their lives?
God Loves Us Infinitely
In the study, some people believed that God and Jesus Christ would love and help them only if they were already perfect. Those people struggled much more than others who understood that God and Jesus Christ love them infinitely and are always there for them.
In English, the word grace has many meanings. It can mean elegance, kindness, or courtesy. In Hebrew, the word means favor or goodwill given with compassion. Perhaps this explains why Christians through the centuries have used the word grace to describe God’s favor, goodwill, and love.
God Desires to Help Us
Latter-day Saints understand that grace means more than just an attribute of God. Grace also describes how He engages with us as we strive to become like Him (see Moroni 10:32). President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then-Second Counselor in the First Presidency, explained that grace is “the divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted beings.”2
In the study mentioned earlier, young people who saw God and Christ as ready, willing, and able to help them had fewer mental health challenges than those who felt they were on their own.
God Meets Us Where We Are
Too many people feel God’s help is out of their reach because they somehow haven’t earned it yet. The truth is, grace is a gift. You don’t have to earn a gift. You simply need to choose to receive it.
In the study, there were fewer mental health struggles among those who understood that God helps us wherever we are and no matter what we’ve done. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught, “We do not need to achieve some minimum level of capacity or goodness before God will help—divine aid can be ours every hour of every day, no matter where we are in the path of obedience.”3
At my friend’s funeral, I was grateful for the strong testimonies that were borne about the hope and healing available to all through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Truly, Christ is the solution to every problem and the source of true joy.