Atonement

Being Easter weekend I wanted to post my feelings on the Atonement.
None of us here are perfect. And there is a higher law that we are all placed under. There had to be a being who was perfect who could satisfy the demands of the law to fulfill what God needed fulfilled. He had to be perfect so that the law did not have claim over him. I don't think that I will ever fully understand what happened to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Christ bled from every pore with the weight of every sin, every trial, every burden of every person born to this earth as well as all those who are beings on other earths. I think of my trials and burdens. I wouldn't want to place that load on anyone. So knowing that Christ has been through everything I have felt, as well as had every feeling that every person ever has felt makes me quiver. To any normal being, the pain would have been unbearable. Even Christ himself prayed out to Heavenly Father, "if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as i will, but as thou wilt." But he finished the will of His father. He sat through beatings, ridicule, walking his cross to the bitter end, his hands and feet nailed to the cross, and his last hours on the cross. And even then, what did he say? "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." He could have very strong feelings and some choice words to say to those who had done this to him. But through all that he had been through he asks for forgiveness to those who didn't understand what they were doing. I like think about this now. I have absolutely no reason to not forgive anyone for any wrong that they do towards me. Sometimes we just don't understand right now what we are doing and the hurt that it could bring to others. We don't have the bigger picture and all the knowledge we need to be perfect. So through all my mistakes I hope to be forgiven. I have made so many mistakes in my life. But I am lucky to have this knowledge that even when I make mistakes, there is someone who still loves me enough to help me through. I love this gospel and all the hope that it brings to my life. I am so very blessed to know that when I make mistakes I can be forgiven and instead of carrying the weight of it all with me, I have a repentance process that I can go to and give my burdens up to the Lord. I don't have to wallow in my mistakes because the Lord has promised to make them light. He does this through the Atonement. I have been asking myself what the Atonement really means to me over the last couple months. As a missionary I not only need a sure understanding, but I need to have a love for the meaning of the Atonement. And I definitely have found that although there is so much I don't understand, I am eternally grateful for what I do know. "A perfect man at an imperfect trial was found guilty so that an imperfect man (or woman) at a perfect trial could be found innocent." Christ laid his life on the line and was crucified so that one day I would be able to return to him. I will do whatever it takes to do just that. "I know how to shine, my life's not really mine, it's not about a worldly climb, it's all about His design. So in his eyes... I wanna shine." I will live my life the best I can to be a true disciple of Christ.