With Christmas quickly approaching, I thought it'd be a good time for this post.
If you have a dad, a brother, or any man in your life like the ones I know, then you can probably relate to this scenario:
You ask him what he wants for Christmas. His reply is the same as all the other years, "Don't get me anything." But being the wonderful person that you are, you get him something anyway. You sit and watch anxiously as he opens his gift, waiting for the pure joy to flood his face when he sees the shirt, shoes or whatever it may be that you picked out especially for him. The suspense builds up and then...he lets out an unconvincing, "Thanks, it's nice."
After a few weeks have passed and there has been no sighting of the gift, you ask why he hasn't worn/used it yet. And here it comes, the answer you get every year, tailored to the gift, of course. "It's too small, it doesn't match anything, I don't have room for it, etc."
So this is the part where you sigh and tell the rest of your family that you're never getting him anything ever again, and this time, you mean it.
As I sat in Stake Conference last Sunday, this conversation is exactly what came to my mind when the speaker taught us that the Atonement is a gift from God.
Heavenly Father is patiently waiting for us to use the gift that He worked so hard on, spent so much time on, and gave the ultimate sacrifice for us to have. When we don't use it, He feels upset and disappointed that we didn't appreciate it.
I've never thought of the atonement like that before, like something that God wants so badly for us to use, because He gave it to us. Repentance can be an awkward and unsettling thing sometimes. We don't always like to admit that we've made mistakes and that we need help to overcome them, but ultimately, that's what God wants from us. He wants us to use the atonement to overcome the obstacles we may face in life so that we can return to live with Him again.
So, you've used the atonement. You've repented of that one thing that you struggle with the most, and then you stumble and you do it again.
Look back to our original scenario. Remember when you said you were never getting him anything ever again? We all know that's not true, you're going to get him something every single year with the hope that this year, he'll appreciate it a little bit more. And why do you do that? Because you love him and you want him to be happy, no matter how many times he upsets you with his lame reactions to the gifts you give him.
That's all Heavenly Father wants for us: for us to be happy. No matter how many times we disappoint Him, God will give us the gift over and over and over because He knows that one day, we will find value in it. We will see that it is going to make us better and stronger. And that is why this Christmas, I invite you to find the pure joy that you can only find in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Receive His Gift.
Alma 34:8
And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
Merry Christmas,
Anna.
