Thinking and wishing....

I have been thinking about how incomprehensible the atonement is, but how important it is to understand it to become closer to Christ. As I was reading 2 Nephi, I was thinking about how important it is to become as much like Christ as we can, and that can only happen as we understand Him, and follow His example.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that we can be like Christ. He was perfect, sinless, and endlessly understanding. I, on the other hand, am imperfect, make mistakes, and struggle to be forgiving and compassionate. It is easy to believe that I deserve to be judged harshly for my mistakes, and certainly there are people in my life who believe that they have the right to judge me, and who find me unworthy of their love or understanding. If those people, who are imperfect like me judge me harshly, it is easy to fall into the feeling that Christ, who knows me better than anyone, will judge me unworthy as well.

As I was reading 2 Nephi, verse 20, I was struck with the inspiration that only Christ can judge us righteously, and that if we believe that anyone else can find us unworthy, then we are listening to Satan, and not Christ. Part of verse 20 says,
"let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off,"

What a powerful thing to be told. We are not cast off. None of us here on this earth are cast off by Christ, it is only by our choices to walk away from Him that we lose our place by Him. As long as we are moving towards Him, following His example as best we can, and repenting of our sins, Christ wants us with Him. He wants us to admit our mistakes, admit we make mistakes, and then move forward. Moving forward means recognizing our mistakes, trying to understand ourselves and why we make those mistakes, asking forgiveness of those we have offended, and doing our best to not make the same mistakes again. That is what Christ expects of us. He also expects us to be loving and understanding of others as they are learning about themselves, and learning how to come closer to Christ.

I believe that Christ has forgiven me for my mistakes, and that He will continue to forgive me in the future, as long as I rely on Him, and do my very best. That especially includes being gentle and understanding with those who have hurt me. It means that I need to not judge those who may judge me, but instead simply do my best every day, and be as loving as possible to all of those in my life. I am doing my best to remember Him, lay aside my sins, and keep my head high. I know that I have not been cast off. I am a choice daughter of our Heavenly Father, and He wants me to come home. My elder brother, Jesus Christ is beckoning me to walk with Him, and to learn to be more like Him every day.