There are few things in life I am more grateful for than my family. One of these is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know the Atonement is real. I know Jesus Christ went into the Garden of Gethsemane and paid for sins committed by the entire world. After he endured all that pain and suffering, "which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men" (D&C19:18-19) He then willingly took the beatings of the guards and people as they began to crucify him. Then to have to die a traitors death, all because He loved us first. And to have all the pains suffered from the Garden of Gethsemane return to him on the cross. I often wonder what the reunion of the Son of God would have been as the Father embraces His most obedient Son. It truly was only but a moment of suffering in God's time, and we have the most incredible promise possible-to receive all that the Father hath if we endure it well. I'm very grateful for a speaker I heard a few years ago tell us that "enduring to the end" was not meant to be something of a long and bleak experience, but instead can and should be something to look forward to-enduring to the end. We get to show our God that we have faith in Him, not in any devices of man or our own strength, but His power and timetable. It is very difficult to wait on God's timetable sometimes and I wish things would happen when I want, but that would not be teaching me many Godlike qualities. My faith is dead though, according to James, if I do not bring forth fruit. The fruit of faith is repentance. To repent is to change ones heart. If there are things I should change, I change them. If I have not been doing something, I need to start. If I need to stop doing something, I stop. To say that I cannot change because, "that's simply who I am", is the same as denying the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He paid for all sins. Not most of them, or part of them, but all. If there is anything in my behavior or person that is not a thing Jesus would do, or that I would be comfortable doing in the presence of God, I need to change it. To not do so is not showing proper gratitude for our Savior who suffered for the world, and each individual. It's like receiving the greatest gift man could ever receive but putting it aside simply because I cannot let go of the former habit/behavior or I don't want to make the effort of letting it go and changing it. Many songs have been written and many books, stories and parables have been given to help man and our finite mind comprehend something infinite and glorious. I hope to come to comprehend a greater portion of the Atonement and all its power sometime in my life, but only if I'm willing to work (have faith and repent) to get there. Our God is great.
