How often do we double down on an injustice? Jesus paid for our sins and yet we considered Him smitten of God and afflicted. We see poor people and our first response is often to insist that we aren’t really helping them if we don’t require them to help themselves – we blame them for their circumstances and want them to accept the blame as a condition for receiving assistance.
Salvation could not come forth to the world without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. – Joseph Smith
I can assure you that Christ … is aware of all the challenges of mortality.
Cast thy burdens upon the Lord and He shall sustain you.
By voluntarily taking upon Himself the sins of all mankind, being cruelly nailed to the cross, and victoriously conquering death on the third day, Jesus gave a more sacred significance to the Passover ordinance that had been bestowed upon Israel in ancient times. In fulfillment of prophecy, He offered His own body and precious blood as the great and last sacrifice, validating the traditional symbols used in the celebration of the Lord’s Passover. In so doing, Christ experienced physical and spiritual suffering that is incomprehensible to the human mind.
Jesus was the only Being capable of realizing this eternal and perfect sacrifice for all of us. He was chosen and foreordained in the Grand Council in Heaven, even before the world was formed. Furthermore, being born of a mortal mother, He inherited the physical death, but from God, as the Only Begotten Son of the Father, He inherited the power to lay down His own life and then to take it up again. Additionally, Christ lived a perfect life that was without blemish and, therefore, was exempt from the demands of divine justice.
I think we underestimate how difficult it was too remain completely free from blemish on order to be exempt from the demands of justice do that He would be a capable sacrificial lamb.
My dear friends, I testify to you that as we genuinely repent of our sins, we allow the atoning sacrifice of Christ to become wholly effective in our life. We will become free from the bondage of sin, find joy in our earthly journey, and become eligible to receive eternal salvation, which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all who believe in Jesus Christ and come unto Him.
In addition to providing the majestic gift of salvation, the Savior offers us relief and comfort as we face our afflictions, temptations, and weaknesses of mortal life, including the circumstances we have experienced recently in the current pandemic. I can assure you that Christ is ever aware of the adversities we experience in mortality. He understands all of the bitterness, agony, and physical pain as well as the emotional and spiritual challenges we face. The Savior’s bowels are filled with mercy, and He is always ready to succor us. This is possible because He personally experienced and took upon Himself in the flesh the pain of our weakness and infirmities.
I love that we are given the power to activate the full power of the Atonement in our lives.
I can assure you that Christ is ever aware of the adversities we experience in mortality. He understands all of the bitterness, agony, and physical pain as well as the emotional and spiritual challenges we face.
As we draw nearer to Him, surrendering ourselves spiritually to His care, we will be able to take upon ourselves His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light, thus finding that promised comfort and rest. Furthermore, we will receive the strength we all need to overcome the hardships, weaknesses, and sorrows of life, which are exceedingly difficult to endure without His help and healing power. The scriptures teach us to “cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” “And then may God grant unto [us] that [our] burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son.”
Enduring without Christ is drudgery. Enduring with Christ is meaningful and poignant.
Through my faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, I received divine help to strengthen and comfort my family members and all those who helped us during this trying experience. … I felt an inexplicable peace that penetrated the depths of my heart, giving me hope and confidence in the love of the Savior for me and in the plan of happiness of God for His children.
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