Peter was an energetic man of conviction. His personality was filled with vibrancy and strength. He momentarily walked on water, he smote off an ear, and he swore he wouldn’t deny Christ. This passion in personality is what Christ saw as potential in spirit. Christ recruited Peter for his potential. He knew what Peter could become. This is how we are supposed to see all people, as they can become. This is how Christ sees us.
While traveling today, I was pondering perfection, completeness, repentance, fulfilling potential, the Lord’s work for me etc and came to a thought of a child. There is a space of no accountability for children, not being baptized until age 8. When we leave our Heavenly existence to come to this earth, we are perfect and complete at that time. We are who we really are, divinely evolved. Then we become mortal. As children we learn and grow and discover our mortal physical world. Then we become accountable and spend our whole mortal lives trying to get back to who we really are, the potential that Christ sees in us and as we were as a small child. But we have all of the mortal struggles and ailments that come with life. So, even though our journey is a circle, or cycle of sorts, it is compounded by the knowledge we gain from overcoming the difficult things in mortal life. That is growth.
I read in Alma 34:9 today, “For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.” This scripture tells me that without the atonement, we will grow hard, fall, become lost, and perish. Our journey back home, to becoming who we really are is long and hard and confusing. If we allow our hearts to grow hard during our difficult times, we will get lost and fall. So it would make sense that we keep our hearts soft. According to Amulek, in the above noted scripture, to keep our hearts soft, we need to employ the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Using the atonement is what glues us to Christ and keeps us on a path close to Him.
How do we use the atonement? That’s the question that pops into my head with these thoughts. I think using the atonement is letting Christ into our lives completely, not hiding anything from Him, letting Him know our deepest fears, our greatest desires and hopes, our struggles, and even the dumb things we do even though we know we shouldn’t. We use the atonement through sincere repentance. We use the atonement through prayer and asking for help with anything. We use the atonement when we exercise faith in Jesus Christ. So if I want to keep a soft heart, which I do, I need to tell my Savior about it and ask for His help. I can do that.
Forever grateful for such a loving plan!
