Run and Not be Weary

Thank you very much for that—that last phrase—it just sounds like a prayer to me. When you think about wanting Him to be in my heart, a dwelling place forever.

 
I am very grateful to be with you today. It’s an honor to be here and to be able to speak. I am thankful to be with President and Sister Kusch. I have a great love for President Kusch, and I’m grateful to be able to be with him. It seems like whenever I’m in a meeting with him, I am always seated next to him. I think someone’s trying to tell me, “You need to learn from him. You need to learn.” And I count him a great friend and mentor, and I believe that you are very, very blessed to have him as your president.

In section 50 of the Doctrine and Covenants we learn something that is significant about teaching and learning. We learn that the Holy Ghost is the teacher, and that when we “preach” and “receive” by the Spirit, we can “both [be] edified and rejoice together”. (see D&C 50:13-25) I pray that the Holy Ghost will teach us today—that we can learn together and both be edified as we discuss a very important point of doctrine.

In the October General Conference of 2024 President Russell M. Nelson said, “I urge you to devote time each week—for the rest of your life.” Do you remember when he said that? “For the rest of your life—to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”1

I’d like to repeat that: “I urge you to devote time each week—for the rest of your life—to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”1

I’m guessing that we’ve all approached that invitation differently. Since that address, I have felt a strengthened desire to be more intentional with my personal study of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Today I’d like to invite you to imagine that we are in a small classroom with just a few people where we can easily discuss what we are learning about this critical doctrine. Now, the doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is a bit daunting. I don’t know if you feel like I do, it seems like the more I learn, the more I realize how very little I really know. Even though that is true, let’s not let what we don’t know overshadow what we do know.

So, I'll start with what I do know. I know and testify that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He—Christ—has made it possible for us to repent and be reconciled to God. He strengthens us in difficult times. He extends mercy and grace that transforms and perfects us so that one day we can return to His presence changed. The apostle Paul taught that we can become new creatures in Christ—that’s the phrase (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-20)—and all of this is possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

As we learn about the Savior’s Atonement, I think that it is important to remember what President Nelson taught us in the April 2017 General Conference,

There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. 2  

Over the years I have heard many people ask questions like the following, “How is it that the Atonement can help me with my addiction and serious sin? Or how can the Atonement help me with being so very afraid of the future, or losing hope for the possibility of a temple marriage, or with divorce, or paralyzing anxiety? Or how can the Atonement help me when I feel so very, very alone?

In order to answer these questions, I think we first need to fix the question. Remember the statement from President Nelson,

“There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source.”2

So our question shouldn’t be “How can the Atonement help me?” but rather, “How can Jesus Christ help me with my, addiction, or serious sin? How can He help me not lose hope? How can Jesus Christ help me face paralyzing anxiety, fear of the future, divorce, or feeling so very, very alone?

Power and help come from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Instead of asking “How does the Atonement help me?” we should be asking “How can I be forgiven, comforted, strengthened and transformed by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through their gift of the infinite Atonement?”

President Nelson has taught us (quote), “There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you! ….My heart aches for those who are mired in sin and don’t know how to get out. I weep for those who struggle spiritually or who carry heavy burdens alone because they do not understand what Jesus Christ did for them.

“Jesus Christ took upon Himself your sins, your pains, your heartaches, and your infirmities. You do not have to bear them alone! He will forgive you as you repent. He will bless you with what you need. He will heal your wounded soul. As you yoke yourself to Him, your burdens will feel lighter. If you will make and keep covenants to follow Jesus Christ, you will find that the painful moments of your life are temporary. Your afflictions will be ’swallowed up in the joy of Christ.’” 1 (end quote)

Let’s pause a moment on this statement,

“Jesus Christ took upon Himself our sins, our pains, our heartaches, and our infirmities.

This is also taught in Alma 7:11-13. Many of you are familiar with these scriptures, where we’re taught that He—Jesus Christ—will suffer “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind.” That He will take upon Himself death and our infirmities in addition to taking upon Him the sins of the people. Jesus Christ intimately knows our sins, our pains, our heartaches, and our infirmities and as President Nelson said, “You do not have to bear them alone! He will forgive you as you repent. He will bless you with what you need. He will heal your wounded soul. As you yoke yourself to Him, your burdens will feel lighter. If you will make and keep covenants to follow Jesus Christ, you will find that the painful moments of your life are temporary. Your afflictions will be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ.’”

Let's look at a case study that may help us understand how this may apply to us today.

A young man named David (I made this up, so this is not a real person) lived in a quiet town in the Midwest and he was known for his warm smile and easy-going nature. Beneath this friendly exterior, however, he struggled in silence with an addiction that had taken root in his early years—a hidden battle few could have guessed from the man everyone thought they knew.

As a young teenager, David started using substances occasionally to deal with life's pressures and find an escape from his own insecurities. He would often have long stretches of sobriety lasting months and even years, only to then relapse during periods of great stress or loneliness. This pattern made him feel like he was stuck in a perpetual cycle of “one step forward and two steps back”

After a particularly difficult setback, he once again reached out to his bishop to seek help.

He shared his desire to repent and admitted that he felt hopeless in his struggle to break this pattern. He felt like God had abandoned him as each time he tried to repent, he felt the sin remained.

After quietly listening, his bishop asked the following question.

“David, how would this cycle or pattern change if you saw the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ as designed to transform you, not just to pardon you from your sin? What would be different in the way you saw yourself and God if you knew that what He wants for you is a complete transformation not just changed behavior?”

Not grasping what his bishop was saying David asked him to repeat the question. This is how the bishop explained what he was trying to say, “David how would your prayers, sabbath observance, and temple attendance be different if you saw the Atonement of Jesus Christ as helping you make incremental changes towards a complete transformation in who you are?

Let that settle for a moment. Jesus Christ wants to help us become like Him which includes much more than stopping sinful behavior. (Matt 11:28-30)

After thinking for a moment, David replied to his bishop this way: Seeing the Atonement this way, he would be more likely to continue in faith after each relapse. He would seek greater power to put off the natural man. He said he would start changing many daily habits that invited sin and replace them with activities that allowed him to feel the presence of the Holy Ghost in his life. He even mentioned an adjustment to his social media use—he said, “You probably have to change that,” and other activities that drew him away from becoming more pure.

David and his bishop together wrote an accountability plan and outlined ways for David to take charge of his own personal testimony and become a more faithful disciple of Christ. They identified ways for him to serve others and be more intentional and consistent in his private religious behavior.

C.S. Lewis taught about being changed by Christ this way,  “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” 3  

Can you see that the Atonement of Jesus Christ encompasses more than just enabling the forgiveness of sin? God’s purpose is to provide a path for our change, growth, and perfection.

Think of it this way, we can be redeemed from our fallen nature (this is forgiveness from sin), strengthened while we change (this is often seen in mercy and strength we receive as we struggle through life’s journey) and transformed as we come unto Christ (like the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon that have “no more disposition to do evil but to do good continually”). (see Mosiah 3:17; 2 Nephi 2:6; Alma 38:9) That’s total transformation.

Even though we have already started talking about these three aspects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I’d like to examine them one at a time.

First, the Redeeming Power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

To redeem can be defined as to gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment. Think about that. We have been redeemed—something regained in exchange for payment.

The prophet Abinadi taught, “For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions.” (Mosiah 15: 12)

Amulek taught, “And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.” (Alma 11: 40 see also D&C 93:38; Mosiah 15:9)

Jesus Christ has paved the path for us to receive forgiveness and be redeemed from our sins and become clean without spot. (Helaman 5:9-12) The prophet Isaiah taught that, “though our sins be as scarlet they can be made white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Elder Bruce C Hafen in the April 2004 General Conference said something that I absolutely love: “Because of the Atonement, we can learn from our experiences [including our failures] without being condemned by them. Christ’s sacrifice doesn’t just erase our sin and return us to a state of innocence. “That would be a story with no plot and no character growth. His plan is developmental—line upon line, step by step, grace for grace. So, if you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose.” 4

Now  let’s address the Strengthening Power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

We gain access to the strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ as we act in faith and follow Christ. Let me provide an example from the life of Agnes Caldwell, a member of the Willie handcart company, to illustrate how this works.

In 1856, Agnes Caldwell, was a member of the Willie Handcart Company and at the time, she was only 9 years old.

She described the first part of the journey this way:

Although only tender years of age, I can yet close my eyes and see everything in panoramic precision before me—the ceaseless walking, walking, ever to remain in my memory. Many times I would become so tired and, childlike, would hang on the cart, only to be gently pushed away. Then I would throw myself by the side of the road and cry. Then realizing they were all passing me by, I would jump to my feet and make an extra run to catch up.5

As she and the rest of the company moved west the weather turned and became bitter cold. They continued pressing forward through Wyoming's snow-laden plains. Huddled together beneath icy winds, the saints battled gnawing hunger and numbing cold, their hopes pinned on the distant promise of rescue.

This is how Agnes described her rescue,

Just before we crossed the mountains, relief wagons reached us, and it certainly was a relief. The infirm and aged were allowed to ride, all able-bodied continuing to walk. When the wagons started out, a number of us children decided to see how long we could keep up with the wagons, in hopes of being asked to ride. At least that is what my great hope was. One by one they all fell out, until I was the last one remaining, so determined was I that I should get a ride. After what seemed the longest run I ever made before or since, the driver . . . called to me, “Say, sissy, would you like a ride?” I answered in my very best manner, “Yes sir.” At this he reached over, taking my hand, clucking to his horses to make me run, with legs that seemed to me could run no farther. On we went, to what to me seemed miles. What went through my head at that time was that he was the meanest man that ever lived or that I had ever heard of, and other things that would not be a credit . . . coming from one so young.. . . . Just at what seemed the breaking point, he stopped. Taking a blanket, he wrapped me up and lay me in the bottom of the wagon, warm and comfortable. Here I had time to change my mind, as I surely did, knowing full well by doing this he saved me from freezing when taken into the wagon. 5

It is instructive to note that the very act of making her run when she had nothing left, was what saved her, the run brought an immediate increase her circulation and core temperature so that now, wrapped in a blanket, she could stay warm.

I don’t know about you, but too many times in my life I have expected God’s strengthening power to manifest itself in either being relieved from the burden I’m carrying or by being made strong enough that I no longer feel it upon my back, (Mosiah 22, 24). Have you ever thought, “I don’t understand it, I’m doing everything right and yet I feel that God is not listening or helping me”?

Perhaps you and I are being strengthened by the very run we are asking to be released from. Let me say that again: Perhaps you and I are being strengthened by the very run we are asking to be released from.

The result of turning to Jesus and “running” –not giving up—may just be the way in which He is strengthening us so that He can save us.

For those of you that feel like you have been running for longer than you have strength. I testify that you do not run alone. Just as the rescuer kept a tight grip on Agnes’ hand, Jesus will not let go of us.

Finally, the Transformative or Perfecting Power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Learning how to be changed in and through Jesus Christ is outlined all over in the standard works. The Book of Mormon is my favorite place to learn about this.

Take Moroni 10:32 and 33 for example,

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.”

Do you see that transformative power that comes from Christ?

In these verses we learn that we must “come unto Christ”, “deny yourselves of all ungodliness” and “love God with all [our] might, mind and strength”. If we do these three things then we will have grace extended and we will be sanctified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that we can be holy, without spot.

This perfecting and transformative process changes us and makes us new. It is the same process often referred to as being “born of God”. Consider these verses in the book of Mosiah.

And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (Mosiah 27:25-26)

Let’s think of it this way. Jesus Christ has power to redeem us from the Fall of Adam as well as from our own fallen nature. He has provided the path of repentance and forgiveness whereby we may become clean. He has power to succor and strengthen us in every trial and difficulty that we may face. He knows in perfect detail all that we are going through. If we will turn to Him and seek Him he will strengthen us in the exact way we need to grow. Jesus Christ also has power to extend grace (His enabling power) and mercy to perfect and transform us into faithful disciples of Christ.

In 2 Nephi 25:23 we read that, “We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” I think that we often misunderstand this statement. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once taught that we often read the phrase “after all we can do” to mean that we must exhaust ourselves and all our resources before the Savior will intervene and extend His grace. But this is what Elder Christofferson said: “After”, as it is used here does not refer to sequence or chronology. It means “beyond” or “above”—the Lord will provide all that is needed beyond our capacity to accomplish in repenting and becoming reconciled to God. His aid is not reserved or delayed until the end, but is constantly with us in the journey. 6

So now we ask, how then can we qualify to receive this redeeming, strengthening, and transforming power in our lives?

Again, President Nelson is teaching us how. He said,

“Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy…. Because God has hesed [covenantal love] for those who have covenanted with Him, He will love them. He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. He will forgive them when they repent. And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him.

“Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with Him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us.” 7

Considering what we have discussed and studied together today, I now ask you to answer the questions we began with,

“How can the Atonement of Jesus Christ help you with addiction, with serious sin, with being so very, very afraid of the future, with losing hope for the possibility of a temple marriage, or with divorce, or paralyzing anxiety, or feeling so very, very alone?

How would you answer those questions?

I bear witness that making and keeping covenants with God bind us to Him in ways that provide strength and power in every circumstance of our lives. The prophet Isaiah taught, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) I testify that Jesus Christ has power to renew, strengthen, and transform us. May we do all in our power to seek Jesus and peace and power in Him, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

References

1.      The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again, Russell M. Nelson, General Conference October 2024

2.      Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives, President Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2017

3.      C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Touchstone, 1996), pp. 175–176

4. Bruce C Hafen, General Conference April 2004 , "Adam and Eve learned constantly from their often harsh experience. They knew how a troubled family feels. Think of Cain and Abel. Yet because of the Atonement, they could learn from their experience without being condemned by it. Christ’s sacrifice didn’t just erase their choices and return them to an Eden of innocence. That would be a story with no plot and no character growth. His plan is developmental—line upon line, step by step, grace for grace."

5.      Agnes Caldwell Southworth, in Susan Arrington Madsen,  I Walked to Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail (1994), pp. 57–59.

6.     The Doctrine of Repentance , D. Todd Christofferson, Mission Leaders Seminar, Tuesday, June 25, 2013

7.     The Everlasting Covenant, President Russell M. Nelson, Liahona October 2022