Christianity and Religion
How a Video Game Helped Me to Understand God’s Love for Me
And How He Loves You Too
I remember when I was about 11 years old I had a horrible acne breakout one day. I got up in the morning and my face was absolutely peppered with red spots and pimples, and I was very upset. As the day wore on I kept wondering when the spots would go away! An hour? A day? Surely no more than a week, right? As the days wore into weeks I began to feel increasing discouragement every time I looked in the mirror. It seemed like they would never go away, and every time I looked at myself in the mirror all I could see was my acne. As I talked with my family about this they all seemed to say something along the lines of, “Well, the acne will go away eventually. Besides, looks don’t really matter anyway; the only opinion of you that matters is God’s.” This sparked an interesting question within me: how did God feel about me?
I had always been taught growing up that God loved me recklessly and unconditionally because I was his child. No matter how many mistakes I made or wrong turns I took God would always love me, because that’s how God’s love works. But what I couldn’t comprehend was what God thought about me when he looked down at my feeble efforts. In my mind I imagined God as this parent in the sports stands of a junior league basketball game watching in disbelief as I missed shot after shot. I imagined him saying, “That kid may get good eventually, but wow he is terrible right now!” and turning away. In my mind, when God looked at me, he saw the weaknesses and the mistakes first.
Then one day I began a run through of my favorite video game: Pokémon. In Pokémon you find and raise a team of six different little monsters to train and battle with. When you begin with a Pokémon it is wild and untrained, and usually very low level. This low level and lack of training makes the Pokémon weak, but as you train them they gain in strength and power, and eventually evolve from cute little pets into incredibly strong battle companions.
Before each game I select my team carefully from the existing catalog of Pokémon. I make sure to select a team with a wide range of types and abilities so that I can handle the diverse challenges that I know I will encounter in the game. I then map out where in the game I can find these six Pokémon and begin my journey.
On this particular occasion I had already carefully selected my team and found most of the Pokémon I needed, and was showing off my team to a friend who didn’t play the game much. I went on and on about their type advantages and their move sets and all the reasons I had picked them to be on my team, when suddenly my friend said, “I don’t get it; That’s just a weak little lizard. It can’t do anything.” I scoffed at him and replied, “Sure it’s a weak lizard now, but after a few more levels it will be an incredibly powerful dragon! And I’m going to help it get there.” When I looked at my team of weak turtle and plant Pokémon I didn’t see a bunch of useless, wimpy monsters; I saw what I knew they would become.
When thinking bcak on this experience I realized that God sees us much as I saw those Pokémon. We are all on God’s team, and he has picked us each for a very specific and important reason. There is a work he needs each of us to do to further the work of bringing his children back to him. It likely won’t be the same as someone else’s job, because he needs us all for different reasons. God has given us all strengths and talents (yes, even you) and he has a plan for how we are to use them! In fact, he is actively interested in developing us for the work which he has in store for us. Just as I looked forward to raising my Pokémon to fulfill their potential, God looks forward to helping us fulfill ours. In the words of Thomas S. Monson, “Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies”(Duty Calls, April 1996 General Conference).
Even more importantly I also realized that when God looks at us he doesn’t just look at our mistakes and shortcomings. God sees us not as we are, but as we may become. God is certainly aware of our weaknesses and shortcomings, but he doesn’t sit there angrily condemning us! God knows that we will be imperfect in this life, just as I know that my Pokémon will start out weak, but he is excited to help us work out those imperfections and achieve our full potential as his sons and daughters, and heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. Going back the analogy of the sports parent, he does not sit in the stands and judge our performance ruthlessly. When we miss a shot God is in the stands saying “Ooh, you almost had it that time! Try again; I know you will get it.” He is the parent that pulls his kid aside after the game and says “You worked real hard out there today, and you did a lot of good things! I’m really proud of your effort. Tomorrow we will go to the gym, and I’ll help you fix that jump shot.” God sees us not as the weak lizard, but as the powerful dragon that he knows is within us.
As time came and went I eventually raised up my team and beat the game. And, with the treatment of medications and proper dieting, I managed to get my acne under control; and life went on. I can’t tell you which Pokémon were on that team, or just how many zits were sprinkled across my forehead, but I know I will never forget the lesson I learned that day. I will forever be grateful to God for showing me how he loves me, and for illustrating the great potential he sees within me in a way that I could understand. I have come a long way, and I have an even longer way to go; but I know that God will be beside me the whole way helping me towards my eternal destiny.
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