Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions.

There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.

There are ways to be right on the surface and entirely mistaken beneath. That is what the Savior announced to the world. 'The law alone, cannot save you,' he said. 'I require the heart.' He reserved his most blistering criticism for the most outwardly correct people of the day, the Pharisees, whom he accused of being 'whited sepulchers' - beautiful, law-abiding, 'in the right' on the outside, yet entirely corrupt within.

It is not possible to make real change all by ourselves. Our own willpower and our own good intentions are not enough. When we make mistakes or choose poorly, we must have the help of our Savior to get back on track. We partake of the sacrament week after week to show our faith in His power to change us. We confess our sins and promise to forsake them.

When our best efforts are not quite enough, it is through His grace that we receive the strength to keep trying. The Lord says: "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."

When we seek the Lord's help to change us, then we have this promise: "He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more."The Lord does not give up on us. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The joy and peace we receive when we know we have been forgiven is a divine blessing. That peace comes in the Lord's time and in His way, but it does come.