Gospel Principles
Unit 7: Perfecting Our Lives
Chapter 34: Developing Talents
Concept 4: We Can Develop Our Talents in Spite of Our Weaknesses
'Sometimes the Lord gives us weaknesses so we will work hard and overcome them. With his help, our weaknesses can become our strengths (Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."). Beethoven composed his greatest music after he was deaf. Demosthenes overcame weak lungs and a lisp to become one of the greatest orators of all time.
Some great athletes have had to overcome handicaps before they have succeeded in developing their talents. Shelly Mann was such an example. "At the age of five she had polio... Her parents took her daily to a swimming pool where they hoped the water would help hold her arms up as she tried to use them again. When she could lift her arm out of the water with her own power, she cried for joy. Then her goal was to swim the width of the pool, then the length, then several lengths. She kept on trying, swimming, enduring, day after day after day, until she won the gold medal for the butterfly stroke--one of the most difficult of all swimming strokes" (Marvin J. Ashton, in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 127; or The Time Is Now Ensign, May 1975, p. 86).
Heber J. Grant overcame many of his weaknesses and turned them into talents. He had as his motto these words: 'that which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased" (Gospel Standards, p. 355).
Discussion
How did Ether 12:27 say weak things can be made strong?"