As part of my studying of the Atonement for Willa’s gift I am reading an awesome book that I think every Latter Day Saint would benefit from reading. It has given me a hope for my eternal future that I have never had before. It is called I’m Not Perfect Can I Still Go To Heaven? Finding Hope for the Celestial Kingdom Through the Atonement of Christ. by Anthony Sweat.
In chapter #7 The Perfect Atonement it says in part quoting Elder Merrill J. Bateman:
“In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins but also experienced our deepest feelings so he would know how to comfort and strengthen us…
The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite- infinite in that it spans the eternities, intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses. Consequesntly he knows how to carry our sorrows and relieve our burdens hat we might be healed from within, be made whole persons, and receive everlasting joy in his kingdom.
None of us can rightly say, “Nobody understands me,” because there is One who does and probably understands you and me better than we understand ourselves. Jesus is so loving, and His Atonement so perfect, that He not only overcame death and suffered the penalty of each of our sins, but overcame everything that is connected to the fall of Adam: all our bad days, all our frustrations, all our temptations, all our sicknesses, our tears, our faults, and our failures.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: ” It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son…had to know how the rest of humankind- us, all of us- would feel.”
In knowing that He had to suffer and endure my pain in order to know how to comfort and succor me, it helps me in times of difficulty to remember I too must learn unconditional love and how to comfort others. To be like Him, I too must feel pain and have experiences that will allow me to truly live a compassionate life.
As I see so many around me suffering with emotional pain, trials and spiritual stresses I was reminded of this counsel by Jeffrey R Holland that has comforted me in the past as I faced my most difficult trials.
Willa Michele's Gift 