Christ has PERFECT EMPATHY for each of us!

Dedicated To Becca~ YOU did your part, you repented, you changed your life and the lives of others, .....now continue to have Faith! We must endure to the end together! Trust in Christ for that which we cannot comprehend. He never said it would be easy. YOU are my example. You are a strong woman. Please remember to keep hold of the Iron Rod! How great will be your joy! Do it not only for yourself, but for those precious children!

Read the following definitions:

Sympathy:

• Harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another.


• The fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, esp. in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration.

Empathy:

• Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.

If I have a challenge or struggle in my life, I'm often looking to those close friends or family that are willing to sympathize or even show empathy towards my feelings. This often helps me because I learn that I am not alone, meaning others are also facing or have gone through those same struggles that I am. We call upon these individuals to help us feel better and many times to listen to us as we open up about our feelings. Often we feel somewhat of a release, like the weight of our burdens are instantly lightened. Well today, I have become enlightened by scripture to change the way I overcome a challenge or struggle in my life. Why, you might ask?

Nobody on this earth, will EVER experience anything the way that you or I have experienced "it". "It" meaning a challenge, struggle, pleasure, an event, etc... I am an individual, as are you, and nobody on this earth can have a perfect empathy to that of how we are feeling or what we have gone through in ANY circumstance what so ever. So our closest friends and family can sympathize with us~ to TRY to share the same feelings as you or I, but they will never have a PERFECT empathy for us.... like that of CHRIST!

I have learned to trust Christ for what I cannot comprehend because I know that by atoning for the sins of the world, he has come to feel of our every pain, both physical and spiritual. CHRIST HAS SUFFERED ALL THINGS. With his complete understanding of all pain, which he has suffered, Christ encourages us all to come to HIM, for he has a PERFECT EMPATHY! His mercy hath atoned for our sins. Jesus Christ carried upon himself, willingly, ALL combined sin of the world. Can you imagine the amount of physical, spiritual, and mental anguish that he willingly suffered for all, so that we might repent and come unto him? For me, I find it incomprehensible! I am so thankful for his atoning sacrifices! He is our LORD and our REDEEMER.....and HE and only HE has PERFECT EMPATHY, a perfect understanding!

• D&C 19:16-18 "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--"


• D&C 133: 53 "In all their afflictions he was afflicted...."

As we struggle in this world, on our earthly journeys~ we need to take advantage of repentance and of that PERFECT EMPATHY that Christ offers us. I really believe that he understands us better than we will ever understand ourselves! He has felt pure agony, of which you and I cannot comprehend and in doing so, he has given his own life ~so that we would believe in him and obey his commandments.

• D&C 34:11 "And if you are faithful, behold, I am with you until I come--And verily, verily I say unto you, I come quickly. I am your Lord and Redeemer. Even so. Amen."

So instead of relying on our friends to make us feel at peace, we need to rely fully on the Lord. We need to take advantage of his PERFECT EMPATHY and of his enduring LOVE for each one of us! HE is constantly just waiting and hoping that we will seek him. He is "the light and the redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth...." (D&C 93:9) He will always make time to listen and he is waiting and willing for us to draw near! We need to recognize that there is always an open invitation or opportunity to draw closer to the Lord.

This next scripture really says it plainly for us.

• D&C 6:36-37 "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen."

We can look to him "in every thought". In D&C 50:44 we are taught about the strength that we will receive from relying on Christ in our daily lives.

• "Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall."

We are promised that in D&C 6:29 that if we are to be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, that Christ will encircle us in the arms of his love. What a heart warming thought.

We are human, therefor we are not perfect which means we will need to take advantage of Christ's gift to us.....The Atonement. Sin causes physical, spiritual, and mental pain and guilt. It will take repentance, discipline, and a change in lifestyle to rid ourselves of the pain and guilt that we carry from those sins. That feeling of guilt is to the spirit what pain is to the physical body. We must remember that the power of the atonement offers redemption from suffering caused by sin. After we have truly repented, we are promised many blessings, but two significant promises are:

• D&C 58:42 "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more."
• Ezekiel 36:26 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."

It is so humbling to know that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us so much, that he sent his son to suffer all the sins of the world, in order for us to return to him. It is my goal to appreciate and use the atonement in my daily life. It is also my goal to prayerfully praise and thank Heavenly Father for all of my many blessings and for the great joy that I have in my life! We are blessed every second of everyday in some shape or form. Let us not only recognize our battles in life, but also recognize the Great JOY and Peace that comes from being sons and daughters of a wonderful, loving Heavenly Father.... and a Savior that has a PERFECT EMPATHY!