How many of us really believe in the Atonement? We talk about it, we read about, we even have lessons on it, but it seems to me it is often skirted in Relief Society lessons, because…we just don’t understand it and that makes us afraid.
There are a lot of things I don’t understand about the Atonement, for example, I just don’t understand how it works. But I do know, with all certainty, that it does work. Jesus Christ really does forgive me when I beg Him to; the burden really does leave my body. He really does take away my hurt feelings when I’ve been wronged. I have been physically healed and mentally healed so many times, I can’t NOT believe. In 2 Nephi, Nephi tells us that without the Atonement we would be subject to the devil and become devils ourselves. I believe that. I don’t want to be miserable forever; I want to be happy. I want Jesus to fix things for me, even when I’m the one messing things up.
I have a friend who is the only active member in her family. I keep telling her she is the Savior of her family, she just has to hang in there. She is literally in pain over the fear she has that her family won’t be saved. I believe that if she keeps the faith, somehow through the Atonement, she will be able to bring her family with her. I don’t know how, but I know that God wants us to be happy. God fixes things for those who are worthy. How do I know when I’m worthy enough? Because I don’t give up and I keep trying.
I have another friend who messed up when she was young. She made many mistakes that could have destroyed her, and possibly destroyed those who love her dearly. It was a long road, but she became stronger through it. The Atonement washed her clean. The Atonement washes her clean every day as she rechooses the Savior. Many of her former weaknesses are now strengths. New weaknesses challenge her to exercise her agency. Life is not over, but her journey is strengthened with her knowledge, her gratitude, her desires, her understanding, and her eternal love.
I used to think that judgment was to be feared. Now, I believe it is really mercy we must fear. When we know we haven’t been exact in our obedience, God’s mercy could very well forgive us. But will we be able to forgive ourselves?
Pres. Hinckley has reminded us over and over again to be grateful. It is because gratitude will make us more aware of God’s mercy. Being aware of our blessings will make us careful. As we carefully walk the path toward the Tree, we will be worthy of the mercy bestowed upon us.
Pres. Monson teaches us how to listen to the Spirit, how to act upon those feelings, and how to spread the art of mercy. Life is difficult. Satan is harsh. Our spirits are weak. But, because of the Atonement we will survive well. We will become greater. By choosing God, God’s victory becomes our victory.
We don’t have to understand the Atonement completely, but I would challenge you to understand it enough to believe Him who saves. Appreciate the gifts of the Spirit that protect us. Show gratitude for the love and the blessings that fill our hearts. Be open to the miracles that happen every day in our lives.
Never close your heart to the Lord. Show patience for the gifts that will come to those who wait. God will make everything right. And we need to be prepared to live with the mercy He will surely grant us, whether we are deserving or not.
Yes, I am with you 100%. Our Heavenly Father wants to give us as much as we are able to receive. Do you remember the little naughty boy Edmund in the Chronicles of Narnia? Well, he falls under the power of the wicked white witch (the symbol of satan)… When Edmund’s siblings show concern to Aslan the Lion (symbol of Christ) Aslan tells them that ‘all that can be done, will be done to save Edmund’.
I know the agony of having physical and emotional pain caused by a son or daughter who chooses darkness and am familiar with the total fear parents have that if their children are not ‘saved’ in the sense we think they should be, that they are cast off and lost forever. The most wonderful news of the Atonement is how merciful God truly is. I don’t comprehend all the layers of it, but I do know that God is much more merciful than we sometimes give him credit for… much more loving… much more patient. I imagine we are all familiar with the words of Joseph Smth and also Orson F. Whitney. They both commented on the state of wayward sons and daughters and that the day would come when they would be brought forth by faithful parents…
One day in a class at Education Week at BYU I was agonizing over my flock and learned a very important lesson that has really given me great peace. The teacher used Doctrine & Covenants 138 for his text. He commented on verses 57 about those who continue missionary work in the spirit world. He asked us to think…If you have children who have rejected the gospel they will be able to have the message preached again to them in spirit prison… Who do you think their missionaries will be? Don’t you think it will be those who have a priesthood stewardship for them? This teacher believed that parents will have the opportunity to reach out to those lost ones who may not have ‘caught’ the vision in this mortal life. They will be able to teach them once again the truth of the gospel of repentance and redemption. Then it says this great truth in verse 58. ‘The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God… (sounds like temple to me) and after they have paid the penalty of their transgression and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.’
What a wonderful message of hope and peace! This doctrine has had a profound impact on me and given me great comfort that our Heavenly Father desires for his children to have as much as they are capable of receiving. Of course we all want everyone to ‘make it all the way to celestial’ That is the goal and why we work so hard at being faithful, etc. I’m not sure how it all works out, but I do know that faithful parents who are sealed to their families by sacred temple covenants hold a great deal of power in the priesthood to bring their families back together again and ensure that they can have the very best life they are capable of in the eternal worlds. I hope that my children will choose here, in their second estate, to follow the Savior. They have certainly been taught to do so but don’t always do it! But just knowing this doctrine, which has been in front of me all along, but I didn’t truly understand or appreciate it, has given me great peace and absorbed the fear that I had as a parent. I’m just so glad that our wise and loving Father is in charge.
Our work and our glory (as parents) is the same as our Father’s. To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of our children…That is why we feel such an intensity when children veer off the path of righteousness…we don’t want them to suffer and to lose their inheiritance. Our entire work as parents is to bring these children, God’s children, along so they can receive the blessings of exaltation. We do it through the blessed atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ who gives us power through his priesthood to impact all of our posterity. I don’t know how it will all come together…but I KNOW that it will. The spirit has witnessed this to me on many occasions. I look forward with confidence in the Savior to turn very dark and difficult times with children in this life into glorious and sweet reunions and new understanding in the world to come. I trust him completely and that really helps me move on and not let the fear get the best of me. It can be very frightening raising children in today’s world, but we have all the power we need with the restored gospel to get them through.
The Atonement became very real to me while I was on my mission. There was a time when all my weaknesses, shortcomings, and pride hit me in the face. I was eating a lot of humble at that time. The guilt was making me almost physically sick. I cried out, as Alma the Younger did, for forgiveness. It took time, but eventually I felt that forgiveness. And I only remember that time to help me not make the same mistakes again. The Atonement is such a beautiful thing, it covers the whole world and it can also be so personal that you can literally feel someone holding you up. I have had that experience a number of times throughout my life. We can personally understand, to some degree, if we take the time to study, both through scriptures as well as in our lives.