Day 68-Atonement Insights

"Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment. But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life. He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives."
--Bruce C. Hafen, "Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Liahona", Apr. 1997, 39

Day 60- Atonement Insight

Mosiah 4:29-30

29And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.

30But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not ^awatchyourselves, and your ^bthoughts, and your ^cwords, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and ^dcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

As I read this scripture, I felt the need to repent. There are so many diverse ways to sin that they cannot be numbered. I would like know all the diverse ways to sin. However, the best indicator may be the Holy Ghost withdrawing. We also know as we live in the light, we feel the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. The Holy Ghost is our witness if we are on the straight and narrow.

Day 52- Atonement Insight

John Welch stated "In explaining the atonement of Jesus Christ, King Benjamin pointedly states that in addition to atoning for the fall of Adam, “his blood atoneth for the sins of those . . . who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned” (Mosiah 3:11). Moreover, Mosiah 3 recognizes two types of ignorant sins: (1) some people live and die unaware of the will of God concerning them (3:11) as revealed in the written law of Moses (3:14) and thereby transgress the law, while (2) other people presumably know the law of God in some form but still commit sins accidentally or in ignorance of the law’s true meaning or application." If one does sin ignorantly or dies not knowing the will of God, the atonement will satisfy the law of mercy and justice. In addition, there is much work to do in the temples and on the other side of the veil."

Day 34- Atonement Insight

President Spencer Kimball state, "Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual. We can show forth our love for others even when we are called upon to correct them. We need to be able to look deeply enough into the lives of others to see the basic causes for their failures and short-comings." I think part of the atonement is realizing that every human sins, and we all need help from the Lord with no exemptions. This knowledge allows us to condemn the sin but not the sinner, and more importantly to show greater love and kindness to the sinner and inviting them to return to the fold.