All We Can Do

"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23). The story of the widow and her two mites helps us understand a little better what Nephi is talking about when he says "all we can do." The Lord isn't withholding his grace until we've worked out fifty or ten or even one percent of our salvation. That's not how this works. "All we can do" does not amount to even a drop when compared to the vast ocean of the Savior's infinite Atonement. The Lord isn't expecting us to make a mathematically significant contribution to our Salvation. King Benjamin said "I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you…if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." (Mosiah 2:20-21). Just as the widow's two mites are less than a rounding error when it comes to the budget of the temple, "all we can do" has no noticeable effect on the infinite price of our souls. But that's not the point. It doesn't matter that the widow contributed less than a thousandth of a hundredth of one percent of the temple's donations, she gave one hundred percent of what she had. We aren't earning our salvation with "all we can do." This isn't about paying back or paying down. Christ freely sacrificed Himself out of love for us with no expectation that we would be able to pay him back. He did "all He could do" for us, and He asks in return that we do "all we can do" for Him. He loves and respects and honors our two mites far more than the ten thousand talents that we owe Him. His infinite Atonement is a gift of love to us, and "all we can do" is a gift of love to Him.