How Loved You Are

Have you ever felt lonely? Tired? Weak? Sad? Hurt? Tormented? Tempted? Not enough? Hopeless?

Let’s talk a little about the most important event to ever occur, the greatest show of love that has ever been done, the central event of all history—the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I love Jesus Christ.

This week, I want to share a little bit about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This great gift—and the central event of all human history—is so grand and glorious and incomprehensible, but I am so grateful for the things I have learned about it through scripture study, teachers throughout my life, and also personal experience.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane as well as on the cross at Golgotha. Although this is where the Atonement took place, this event was much more than some earthly act. Rather, this was part of the Father’s plan from the beginning of the world in order to provide peace and salvation to His children—to provide hope.

The Atonement, carried out willingly by Jesus Christ, began in the Garden of Gethsemane. As He went off to pray, He began to literally feel the weight of the world on His shoulders. The Savior, to fulfill all righteousness, took upon Himself “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. . .And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12, Book of Mormon)

He suffered the pains of physical and spiritual death. He descended below all things so He could overcome them. He entered into prison so He could break the bars from the inside out. And only He, because of His perfect life, love, and obedience to the will of our Heavenly Father, could’ve done it.

So every time you fail an exam, He knows your anguish. Every time you suffer from a broken bone, He knows your pain. And every time you feel distanced from God, He understands.

He understands more than we can even imagine.

The Savior Himself said unto His disciples,

“My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

And there in the garden, He suffered. There, “He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad. All the pain we would ever know.” (Gethsemane, Melanie Hoffman & Masa Fukuda) He felt sorrow and anguish completely unimaginable, and He bled from every pore.

I sometimes wonder, “How many drops of blood were shed for me?” (This is the Christ, James E. Faust, Jan Pinborough, & Michael Finlinson Moody) And although it is hard to understand that the perfect Savior of all Mankind suffered for all of my sin and pain, I am so grateful that He did. We talked in class this week about how, if we were allowed to watch the Atonement occurring, although it would’ve been hard to watch Him go through all of this, we all had faith in Him and counted on Him to fulfill that which He promised He would take upon Himself and do. We knew that He was our only Hope.

After the events that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Savior was betrayed and crucified on Golgotha.

I don’t fully understand the Atonement, and in this life, I don’t think I ever will. But I have hope that it is true. That my Savior, and your Savior, loved and loves us enough that He was willing to die for us and to suffer all that we ever would, whether of our own fault or not. I also believe that out Heavenly Father loves us, and it was out of this love that He sent His son for us. What a great gift He is, and how hard it must’ve been for our Father to let His Son suffer. I believe that Christ rose again from the grave and from spiritual death and that because of Him, we can too. I believe that because of what He did for us, we can repent. We can have hope. And we are never alone, because there is Someone who knows exactly how we feel. I don’t fully understand it, but I hope it to be true.

All I know is that as I have had faith in the Atonement of Christ, I have felt love and hope and peace. And everything has worked out.

I am so grateful for my Savior. I love Him. I believe that He loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves. And for some reason, we are meaningful to Him, and because of that, He will take us by the hand and work through this life with us until we become who we need to be to inherit the greatest of the Father’s blessings.

Remember that you are loved,

Abby

I think this sweet video does a beautiful job reminding and teaching us of what the Savior has done for us: