"We will not attain a state of perfection in this life, but we can and should press forward with faith in Christ along the strait and narrow path and make steady progress toward our eternal destiny. The Lord's pattern for spiritual development is 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little' (2 Nephi 28:30). Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of a lifetime; it does not result from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity.
"I witness that the Savior will strengthen and assist us to make sustained, paced progress."
- David A. Bednar, "Clean Hands and a Pure Heart," Ensign, November 2007, pp. 80-83
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This is such a valuable perspective! There are times when we feel our progress is not fast enough. We want to rush towards our goals, especially the very important ones. We think if we just give a bigger effort that we can dramatically transition quickly to where we want to be.
But Elder Bednar reminds us that in most cases, we make "small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements" towards those eventual goals. We have to be seasoned in experience, developing along the way. And we do that through constant and steady efforts, and not through "sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity."
I've always loved the word that the Lord used to describe the Nephi in the Book of Mormon — "unwearyingness" (see Helaman 10:4-5). It conveys to me that kind of patient, steady, faithful commitment to the Lord's work that Elder Bednar is encouraging in all of us.
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