There are reliable scriptural patterns that can teach us the right way to think about things.
When Mary visited her cousin Elisabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist, “the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (Luke 1:41). Elisabeth began to prophesy, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:4).
How did Mary respond to such high praise?
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. (Luke 1:46-49)
Mary continues listing a dozen more ways that God blesses His children. She surely was dumbfounded by the miracle and burden of being the mother of the Son of God. She must have felt overwhelmed!
It is interesting to see how she consoled herself in contrast to the ways we moderns often console ourselves when we feel overwhelmed. One popular meme encourages the anxious reader to chant:
I am strong.
I am beautiful.
I am enough.
Do you see the difference in the way Mary sought reassurance and the popular ways we moderns commonly do? We claim self-sufficiency. Mary rejoiced in what God enabled in her through His power and goodness. She acknowledges it is His sufficiency that makes her offering “enough”.
In an interesting irony, ancient Jews studiously avoided using “I am” since that was the name of God. In modern times, we have declared ourselves to be God or at least to have the qualities we need independent of Him.
Consider again Mary’s consolation:
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. (Luke 1:46-49)
There are many problems with declaring ourselves to be enough. It minimizes our need to turn to God. It focuses us on ourselves. But, as Mary learned, if we trust in God to provide the power, He may invite us to accomplish something beyond our own human vision or capabilities. When we base the meaning of our lives on the goodness and sufficiency of God, we are building on a solid foundation.
Saying or believing “I am enough” is false and counterproductive.
It is common to assume that the opposite of self-assurance is self-hatred, self-loathing, or self-neglect. This is mistaken. Both self-assurance and self-hatred are forms of self-absorption. Their opposite is self-forgetfulness—which is exactly what Jesus, Nephi, the brother of Jared, King Benjamin—all the scriptural heroes—practiced. It is by losing (or forgetting) ourselves that we find ourselves.
That is why Jesus would not allow the young ruler to call Him “Good master.” His strong and instinctive response was, “Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:19; see also Matthew 19:17 and Mark 10:18). Our response should follow the pattern set by Jesus.
Praise belongs to God.
Intriguingly, the Restoration provides a very positive view of our fundamental natures—in stark contrast to many religious traditions. We believe that we are born innocent (D&C 93:38), that we are literally the spirit offspring of God (Romans 8:17) with full capacity to become glorious (D&C 76).
But, here in mortality, we are fallen. “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” (Mosiah 3:19). We are not enough. Here on this earth, we are enemies to God unless we yield to His Spirit. We are nothing without Him. And when we claim to be self-sufficient, we are alienating ourselves from the only power that can transform, magnify, and glorify us.
Scriptural memes are quite different from many modern ones:
Paul: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Phillippians 4:13)
Paul: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28)
Jesus: If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth [in Jesus, not ourselves!]. (Mark 9:23)
Nephi: O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. (2 Nephi 4:34)
Ammon: But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Alma 26:11-12)
The pattern is clear. We cannot defeat our spiritual enemies or our own self-doubt with the sweet but insubstantial ammo of self-assurance. We must call on God. We must depend on Him. We must trust Him. That is the scriptural pattern.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. (Luke 1:38)
How can we follow Mary’s example? Rather than try to reassure ourselves with hollow mottos about our goodness or sufficiency, we can throw ourselves on the merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah—the one who is mighty to save. We respond to His invitations. We trust in His goodness. We turn to His strength to enable us.
Then we, like Mary, stand in peaceful assurance. Partnered with Him, we testify.
For with God nothing shall be impossible. And [we shall say], Behold the [servant] of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. (Luke 1:37-38)
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Thanks to Barbara Keil for her editorial suggestions for this article.
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