Grace and piano lessons - an analogy

I heard this statement yesterday as our Sacrament meeting speaker spoke on grace:

Mom’s joy is not found in getting repaid, but in seeing her gift used — seeing her child improve.

And this is the talk our speaker referenced. It is intelligent and insightful - new thoughts in it for me. I hope for you too as you look through this. Please take the time.
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Brad Wilcox, associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education, and author of “The Continuous Atonement,” a popular LDS book, gave a devotional address at BYU recently titled, “His grace is sufficient.” (link).

Wilcox related the example of one student he was trying to help understand the process of grace through Christ. He said her understanding of how grace works was that she does everything she is supposed to do, and then Christ fills in the gaps.

"Jesus doesn’t make up the difference, Jesus makes all the difference," Wilcox said."Grace is not about filling gaps, it is about filling us."

Wilcox helped this particular student by drawing two dots on a piece of paper, one representing her and the other representing Christ. He then proceeded to have her draw a line representing how much we do and how much Christ does for us to be saved. She drew a line like he instructed, but then explained there is actually no line.

"Jesus filled the whole gap. He didn’t pay it all except for a few coins. He paid our debt in full."

The young woman was surprised. Wilcox continued, "You have plenty to do, but it is not to fill the gap."

“Christ asks us to show faith in him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end,” Wilcox said.

“By complying, we are not paying the demands of justice, not even the smallest part.Instead, we are showing appreciation for what Christ did by using it to live a life like his.”

“Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child,” Wilcox said. “Mom pays the piano teacher. Because mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something.

What is it?"

"Practice.

Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No.

Does the child’s practice repay mom for paying the piano teacher? No.

Practice is how the child shows appreciation for mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level.""Mom’s joy is not found in getting repaid, but in seeing her gift used — seeing her child improve.

And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice."

In the same sense, “because Jesus has paid justice He can now turn to us and say, ‘Follow me,’ ‘Keep my commandments.’”

Gaining a deeper understanding of grace can have a significant impact on our everyday lives.
“It is comforting to know that there aren’t just two options: perfection or giving up,” said Wilcox. "When learning the piano, are the only options performing in Carnegie Hall or quitting? No."

Growth and development take time. "When we understand grace we understand that we never have to face challenges alone, that Christ’s strength is perfect in our weakness and that he offers us his enabling power.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks states the reason why sinners must suffer in the repentance process: “The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but his suffering has a different purpose than punishment or payment — its purpose is change.” Wilcox applied Elder Oaks’ quote to the piano player analogy.

“The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment.

Its purpose is change.”

I Googled to find Bro. Wilcox's talk and also found; this writer's (link) comments about practicing:

Also, when you take piano lessons, you are expected to make mistakes. You might even make the same mistakes over and over again, but the more you practice and stick with it, the more likely you are to eventually stop making the mistakes and go on to a harder piece where you will learn to play it by practicing it over and over and make more mistakes.

In our lives, Jesus expects that we will make mistakes as we learn and grow. It is to be expected. We may, in fact, keep making the same mistakes over again. But this is when we must not get discouraged and give up. We need to keep practicing over and over again until we get it right.

What about if we can't play well enough to play at Carnegie Hall? Is that the only option? What about all the levels of playing from beginner on up? Aren't they worth something too?

In real life, there is value to our lives even if we aren't the absolute best we can be. We keep trying and progressing.

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What do you think?