Various laws, customs, and practices require what is called a “good faith effort.” What this means is that whoever is called upon to make a good faith effort does everything in their power under a specified time limit to accomplish the required task. The reason that this provision exists is because we recognize that even when we act in good faith and despite our best efforts, we still come up short sometimes. If our vehicle is part of a class action settlement and we need to provide proof of the repair that was done, or sign an affidavit that we made a good faith effort to obtain that documentation, then maybe that good faith effort looks like trying to get the invoice from the dealership, only they've closed down, and then trying to get receipts from our bank, but they don't keep records older than four or five years. We did all we could but there are circumstances beyond our control that prevent us from fully complying. When it comes to living the gospel and generally being clean and righteous and perfect, all that Jesus Christ requires of us is our good faith effort. If the norm for fasting is twenty-four hours, but we can't make it longer than twelve hours for health reasons, then twelve hours is our good faith effort. If we can't read the scriptures for more than six minutes before our eyes start to glaze over and our minds start to wander, then six minutes is our good faith effort. The Lord is so much more delighted when we do what we can do even if it's small and weak and ugly rather than us sitting idly by and daydreaming about how much better it would be if we could just do things perfectly. A drop of water is not the ideal tool for cutting through rock, but water dropping consistently on the same spot for years or decades will eventually carve its way through that rock. Our good faith efforts may not seem like much but they will all pay off in the end.
