The Third Article of Faith states: “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”
We do truly worship Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and our Savior. He entered the Garden of Gethsemane and took upon Himself our pain, our weaknesses, our sins, our sorrows—everything with which we have been burdened or do burden ourselves. He bore the weight of all those sins so that we have the opportunity to repent and to become clean from our pasts. His was a mighty, miraculous gift, one that no other person could have given to us, and He did all that because He loved us.
Because of the principle of free agency, we all have the right to choose our paths. We also have the right to choose whether or not we want to repent, and whether or not we wish to apply the power of the Atonement in our own lives. There are many who are happy in their sins, not recognizing them as such or understanding the importance of them. These individuals have chosen not to change, feeling that their greatest happiness comes from living life the way they are. Others feel unsettled in their lives and know they want to change, but they aren’t sure how. Every person will be given the opportunity to hear the word of the Lord, and will have the ability to repent, from those who are comfortable in their sins to those who earnestly strive every day to be truly obedient. The gift is available to all of us, if we will repent.
But once we have repented, we must continually strive to live a life consistent with Christ’s teachings. As we come to understand what the laws of the gospel are, and to live by them, we will enjoy His spirit in our lives, we’ll want to keep making good choices, and we’ll want to give up our sins. We will slip up sometimes, but the gift of repentance is always there. As long as we are trying, He will never give up on us. We may give up on ourselves, but He never will. He paid the price. He made it possible. He anxiously desires us all to take advantage of the blessings He paid for.
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A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit