"And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."
That is a great summation, in my opinion, of how wonderful the power of the atonement and the amazing healing power of repentance are. The pain of sin, and sorrow, which we have all felt are terrible. However, once we repent and are forgiven, and recognize that forgiveness in our lives, we can have an equal amount of joy in our lives due to that act of faith. For repentance truly is an act of faith. If we didn't believe that repenting would do anything for us, we wouldn't humble ourselves down to our knees and ask for forgiveness.
That is how the Lord works, by rewarding us based on our demonstrations of faith. Faith is not simply hope in great and good things, it is recognizing what we should have hope in, and then going out and getting it. And upon accomplishing that thing which we set out to do (whether it be asking for forgiveness, following a prompting of the spirit we may have felt, etc), giving thanks unto God for helping you to have the faith to carry out that which he has desired you to do.
My goodness I love the plan of salvation. It really does deserve it's pseudonym of the plan of happiness.
And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."
That is a great summation, in my opinion, of how wonderful the power of the atonement and the amazing healing power of repentance are. The pain of sin, and sorrow, which we have all felt are terrible. However, once we repent and are forgiven, and recognize that forgiveness in our lives, we can have an equal amount of joy in our lives due to that act of faith. For repentance truly is an act of faith. If we didn't believe that repenting would do anything for us, we wouldn't humble ourselves down to our knees and ask for forgiveness.
That is how the Lord works, by rewarding us based on our demonstrations of faith. Faith is not simply hope in great and good things, it is recognizing what we should have hope in, and then going out and getting it. And upon accomplishing that thing which we set out to do (whether it be asking for forgiveness, following a prompting of the spirit we may have felt, etc), giving thanks unto God for helping you to have the faith to carry out that which he has desired you to do.
My goodness I love the plan of salvation. It really does deserve it's pseudonym of the plan of happiness.
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