Just as the capacity to defer gratification is a sign of real maturity, likewise the willingness to wait for deferred explanation is a sign of real faith and of trust spread over time.
If faithful, we end up acknowledging that we are in the Lord’s hands and should surrender to the Lord on His terms—not ours. It is total surrender, no negotiating; it is yielding with no preconditions.
Neal A. Maxwell
“Willing to Submit”, General Conference April 1985
We need also to be careful about being too quick to complain about institutional and individual imperfections in the Church. For instance, before we complain about someone else's insensitivity or errant authoritarianism, we need to examine meekly our own leadership style. It would be well to accept that in a church which oversees some of the processes of repentance, inevitably this perfect and emancipating doctrine is sometimes imperfectly administered.
Life in the Church means experiencing leaders who are not always wise, mature, and deft. In fact, some of us are as bumpy and uneven as a sackful of old doorknobs. Some of the polishing we experience is a result of grinding against each other. How vital submissiveness is in such circumstances, especially if the lubrication of love is not amply present.
In a church established, among other reasons, for the perfecting of the Saints - an ongoing process - it is naive to expect, and certainly unfair to demand, perfection in our peers. A brief self-inventory is wise before we "cast the first stone." Possessing a few rocks in our own heads, it is especially dangerous to have rocks too ready in our hands.
Not My Will, but Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. 2008. Deseret Book. p. 79, 80
