Gratitude for the Atonement

I know I have a relatively small audience, so having a guest blogger might seem a little odd. However, a coworker and good friend, Joel Conte, shared the talk he gave yesterday with me this morning. I loved the pure doctrine and testimony of gratitude--specifically gratitude for the Atonement--so I asked permission to share it. I'll leave it to speak for itself. Enjoy!

Introduction

This month as we usher in the day of Thanksgiving, I have been reading daily expressions of gratitude from friends and family. In the same style of the Advent calendar for Christmas, each day I open the door to read messages of thanks like: Day 1: “I am thankful for health and family.” Day 11: “I am thankful for the veterans and armed forces who protect our freedoms”, and so on and so forth. A friend even encouraged me to join in the festivities of daily expressions of gratitude. While my initial reaction was to be a Scrooge, I knew deep down inside I have much to be thankful for. I thought I could sneak through the month as a “persona non grateful”. Somehow, God knew I needed to publicly express my thanks and granted me the blessing to speak before you today. Day 24: “I am thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for the blessings we receive because of it.”

Atonement

As used in the scriptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind. Because of His Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life with God. We have hope through the Atonement of Christ to be raised unto life eternal.

Jesus's atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people. The Savior continued to suffer for our sins when He allowed Himself to be crucified—“lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:33).

Jesus Christ redeems all people from the effects of the Fall [of Adam and Eve]. All people who have ever lived on the earth and who ever will live on the earth will be resurrected and brought back into the presence of God to be judged (see 2 Nephi 2:5-10; Helaman 14:15-17). Through the Savior's gift of mercy and redeeming grace, we will all receive the gift of immortality and live forever in glorified, resurrected bodies.

The Atonement of the Savior is the greatest event in history. President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: “No other act in all of human history compares with it. Nothing that has ever happened can match it. Totally unselfish and with unbounded love for all mankind, it became an unparalleled act of mercy for the whole human race.”

Gratitude for the Atonement

Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us.

If we understood the great love the Savior had for us when He atoned for our sins, we would always love Him, be grateful to Him, and keep His commandments.

As President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) observed:

“One of the greatest sins, both in magnitude and extent … is the sin of ingratitude. When we violate a commandment, no matter how small and insignificant we may think it to be, we show our ingratitude to our Redeemer. It is impossible for us to comprehend the extent of his suffering when he carried the burden of the sins of the whole world, a punishment so severe that we are informed that blood came from the pores of his body, and this was before he was taken to the cross. The punishment of physical pain coming from the nails driven in his hands and feet, was not the greatest of his suffering, excruciating as that surely was. The greater suffering was the spiritual and mental anguish coming from the load of our transgressions which he carried. If we understood the extent of that suffering and his suffering on the cross, surely none of us would willfully be guilty of sin. We would not give way to the temptations, the gratification of unholy appetites and desires and Satan could find no place in our hearts. As it is, whenever we sin, we show our ingratitude and disregard of the suffering of the Son of God by and through which we shall rise from the dead and live forever. If we really understood and could feel even to a small degree, the love and gracious willingness on the part of Jesus Christ to suffer for our sins we would be willing to repent of all our transgressions and serve him.”

The Virtues of the Atonement

As there is an opposition in all things, ingratitude is gratitude’s opposite. Gratitude is to Ingratitude as Humility is to Pride and as Selflessness is to Selfishness. As we choose to disobey our Heavenly Father’s commandments, we increase our ingratitude for the Savior’s Atonement. As we choose to ignore the mercy of the Savior’s sacrifice and boast of our own feats and fortune, we increase our pride. Pride became the downfall of the Nephites. Beware of ingratitude, pride, and selfishness. Because the Atonement enacted for us mercy, redemption, and eternal life, we are blessed with the desire to put into living practice the virtues of gratitude, humility, and selflessness.

Gratitude as a Virtue

Jesus taught about the virtue of gratitude through the account of His service to the ten lepers. In the book of Luke, chapter 17, we read:

Luke 17:12-19

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

President Thomas S. Monson taught:

“Through divine intervention, those who were lepers were spared from a cruel, lingering death and given a new lease on life. The expressed gratitude by one merited the Master’s blessing, the ingratitude shown by the nine His disappointment.”

Again, our living prophet warns of the undesirable effects of ingratitude:

“Like the leprosy of yesteryear are the plagues of today. They linger; they debilitate; they destroy. They are to be found everywhere. Their pervasiveness knows no boundaries. We know them as selfishness, greed, indulgence, cruelty, and crime, to identify but a few. Surfeited with their poison, we tend to criticize, to complain, to blame, and, slowly but surely, to abandon the positives and adopt the negatives of life.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”

Humility as a Virtue

The sermon of the unprofitable servant teaches humility as a virtue. King Benjamin in the Book of Mosiah depicts the ultimate example of humility:

Mosiah 2:20-22
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

We are truly humbled when we realize just how much God has blessed us and yet how little He requires of us.

Increase Gratitude for the Atonement

How do we increase our gratitude for the Atonement? Through daily prayer, repentance, and the partaking of the sacrament.

Gratitude may be increased by constantly reflecting on our blessings and giving thanks for them in our daily prayers. A constant expression of gratitude [for the Atonement] should be included in all our prayers. Often in our prayers we ask for specific blessings on the behalf of others which reflects our selflessness. We also show humility when we pray as we ask God for forgiveness and repent of our sins.

Through repentance we can apply the Atonement in our lives as we become humbled, seek cleanliness, and receive forgiveness for our sins. Repentance is more than simply acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments. Repentance not only helps us to feel good from within, but it empowers us to do good unto others around us and to see the good in all things God has granted us.

When we partake of the sacrament, we reflect on our Elder Brother’s atoning sacrifice. The sacred ordinance of the blessing of the bread and water symbolize the shedding of Christ’s flesh and blood. The sacrament allows us to renew our baptismal covenants and become clean. We cannot be saved nor become perfected without it. 

 
Conclusion

We should thank our Heavenly Father for His Plan of Salvation and for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We should practice the virtues of the Atonement by showing gratitude, humility, and selflessness. To show gratitude to our Heavenly Father, we acknowledge His hand in all things, thank Him for all that He gives us, keep His commandments, and serve others. We can increase our gratitude through daily prayer, repentance, and partaking of the sacrament. When we pray to Our Heavenly Father, we should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement. May we always be grateful for this wonderful gift, the Atonement of the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. [Amen]

An attitude of gratitude

I really enjoyed doing gratitude posts last year, so I'm going to do it again! (Also, I must confess... the wellness challenge for November/December for a premium refund is emotional and spiritual well-being: I will be giving and grateful. It doesn't do much good to list what I might give--that's kind of selfish and prideful. So instead, I'll have at least one thing to be grateful for each day again.) All right, here goes:

1 November 2013. I am grateful for health. It can be so easy to take health for granted, but it really is wonderful! All of life depends on it. In order to have energy and to accomplish anything at all, I need to feel well. So I'm grateful: grateful to be generally healthy, grateful for simple things like the ability to walk, even just to breathe. These make it possible for me to enjoy so much more all around me!

2 November 2013. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost, and specifically for the gift of the Holy Ghost, which allows me to have the Spirit of the Lord as a constant companion if I live righteously. Through the Holy Ghost, I know of the truthfulness of the gospel; I can feel forgiveness and the strength to forgive; I find happiness, peace, and strength that I can't find anywhere else; and I feel Heavenly Father's love for me and receive the guidance I need to be able to follow His plan.

3 November 2013. I am grateful for inspired leaders: for a stake presidency, just released, each of whom has served so well, and for a newly called stake presidency, each of whom is eager and willing to serve the Lord. (For my friends who are not "Mormon," a stake consists of several congregations--in our case, thirteen--called "wards" and is similar to a diocese.) I am grateful also for general authorities who have spoken to us this weekend and shared messages that I needed to hear, even if I didn't know it beforehand. It has been a spiritually uplifting weekend.

4 November 2013. I am once again grateful for inspired leaders, this time for a living prophet and apostles who are in tune with the Spirit of the Lord. A new semiannual general women's meeting, for women and girls ages 8 and up, was just announced. It will replace the Relief Society and Young Women meetings, each of which was held annually. I am so excited to see the results of this as we grow together in the gospel and help to strengthen each other!

5 November 2013. Today I am grateful for snow. It really wasn't a bad walk to work this morning (even if I probably have to put the scooter away until spring). There's something beautiful and peaceful about watching snow fall... even if it's falling on you. :)

6 November 2013. I am grateful for a good job. It's a blessing to have a job where I like what I do. I'm glad that I occasionally get to learn new things in my work. I am especially grateful to work with (and for) some very good people who make the environment enjoyable.

7 November. I am grateful for powdered milk. Don't misunderstand... that doesn't mean I like powdered milk. But it's a blessing to have it on hand when you're too lazy to take the bus to the store... I'm also very grateful right now for my November Ensign--the General Conference issue. I was super excited to get it a couple of days ago, and I have been enjoying reading from it each evening. There's too much to be able to learn it all from the one weekend when we first hear the talks. What a blessing it is to be able to read and reread them!

8 November 2013. I am grateful for Friday--the end of a work week and the chance to wind down, relax a little, and catch up on things I haven't done during the week. I am also grateful I was given a little time for my own family history today--I got some more photos and documents scanned this afternoon.
9 November 2013. Sorry, this might be a longer one than normal. Today I am most grateful that Uncle Chris is home safe--and grateful to him and to the many who continue to serve our country. I am also grateful that a certain wall came down 24 years ago, making it possible for the gospel to spread into Eastern Europe. I am grateful for the courage of those who serve the Lord by sharing His gospel, sometimes in the face of great danger. (I saw Saratov Approach today.) And I am grateful for music and for a good friend to share it with. :)  I won't name names... you know who you are.

10 November 2013. I am grateful for music, and must especially that my parents taught me to love music and not to be afraid to sing and share my talents. I am grateful for opportunities to sing--today, a solo, but also just for congregational hymns in church. I am also grateful for the power of hymns and the way the Spirit carries a message to those who listen. I truly love the hymns of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

11 November 2013. I am grateful for veterans and for those who continue to serve--those I know personally and many I have never met, who put their lives on the line for the cause of freedom so that I can enjoy so many liberties. Today I am also overwhelmingly grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and for living prophets and apostles. As I was reading conference talks after work today, it struck me hard: the world instills doubts and questions and confusion, but the gospel has the answers--all of the answers, though we must make the effort to seek them out. I am amazed and so grateful for the peace and reassurance I feel as I continue to study and learn.

12 November 2013. I am grateful for online reference sources and for the ability to think like a librarian. I have really enjoyed becoming familiar with some of the reference sources available online (subscription through the university and otherwise). As far as thinking like a librarian... it helps to be able to pinpoint a source and know how to search, and I know cataloging and familiarity with a catalog plays a major part in that. In two short evenings, I finished an assignment (entirely in the comfort of my home)--nearly a week before it is due. That feels pretty good. :)

13 November 2013. I am grateful for technology. It's amazing to think how drastically things have changed in my lifetime--and even since I graduated from high school. I left home with a calling card to reach my parents (with email being my other option); now I own a smart phone, which in addition to making calls has some capabilities that even my first computer didn't have. Then there's Facebook--I can see throughout the day what family members and others are sharing. It's a blessing to have so many ways of staying in touch with each other when there are several states between us.

14 November 2013. Oh, how grateful I am for the temple! I'm grateful for the overwhelming peace I feel there, and for the way that temple worship helps to put everything else in life back in perspective. I am grateful for a temple presidency who love the young single adults and for the many sealers and others who willingly gave of their time and stayed late tonight. I am also grateful for unseen angels. Sometimes I feel absolutely surrounded--by people I know and love and by some I don't know or don't remember, but whom I also love and whom I look forward to meeting someday.

15 November 2013. I am grateful that my dad "corrupted" me with music. That might sound funny, but I think it played a large part in my desire to learn a couple of instruments and my continued love of and appreciation for good music of many kinds--and it has also taught me to catch and appreciate little nuances or variations in arrangements of well-known songs. I am also grateful for an occasional girls' night. That was much needed. :)

16 November 2013. I am grateful for a lazy Saturday, and for a BYU football game that I could actually *watch* instead of just listening to the radio. I am also grateful for grocery store mark-downs that resulted in an unplanned pork chop purchase and barbecue pork chops that are just finishing in the crock pot. Yum! (I'll wait until tomorrow to eat them.)

17 November 2013. I am grateful to have learned that my hair will hold curl decently if I let it set overnight without heat. (Superficial? Maybe, but it's good to know...) I am also grateful for zebra sunglasses. Finally, and most especially, I am grateful for the opportunity to go to church and partake of the sacrament each week.

18 November 2013. I am grateful for clean laundry and for a fun Family Home Evening with friends. And I am grateful that a 4-week-old assignment has finally been graded.

19 November 2013. I am grateful for the opportunity to babysit on occasion. I am grateful for children and the love and light they bring to the world.

20 November 2013. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for His birth, and later His resurrection, which makes it possible for me to live again with those I love. I am grateful that I could once again begin the Christmas season watching the production "Savior of the World" (and sharing it with a few other people).

21 November 2013. As others in my family have said, I am grateful for my grandpa today--on his 84th birthday. I am grateful for his kind and generous heart and for his sense of humor. I am also grateful for his love for the Lord and for his commitment to the gospel.

22 November 2013. I am grateful to live near work and near the temple, in such an ideal location. Right now I am especially grateful for Friday and for knowing that I can sleep in tomorrow.

23 November 2013. I am grateful for an oven and baking ingredients... and for the willpower to bake roughly 5 dozen cookies without eating any. :) There's just something therapeutic about baking.

24 November 2013. I am grateful for Sundays: for a day of rest from the other activities of the week, for a chance to worship and partake of the sacrament, and for a little extra time to devote to studying the scriptures and the words of the prophets. I am also grateful (as I know I have said before) for living prophets and apostles through whom the love of the Lord radiates to us.

25 November 2013. I am grateful for a crock pot and for simple recipes that make delicious meals. I am also grateful for a friend who was willing to drive the one block or so to the church so my chili made it there tonight. And I am grateful for the Internet and the ease of finding and purchasing airline tickets... and for the quickly approaching Christmas holidays!

26 November 2013. I am grateful for a warm bed and for nighttime and the chance to sleep.

27 November 2013. I am grateful for a relaxing evening with a sweet nephew (and his "super hero coat"). The niece is already sound asleep, or I'd be enjoying her, too. I love these kids!

28 November 2013. I am grateful for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, including delicious beans and Mexican stuffing. I am also grateful for time spent with family and for introducing Amanda to pumpkin pie (she ate half of mine). It would have been fun to be with the rest of the family, but it's been a great day.

29 November 2013. I am grateful for birthday festivities for the sweetest one-year-old niece and for the chance to spoil my niece and nephew a little bit. I am also grateful for baby wipes to clean off the remnants of sticky cow tongues (meaning we were licked by the cows we fed at the petting zoo).

30 November 2013. I am grateful to be home again and able to sleep in my own bed (which I will do very shortly) after a busy but very fun weekend. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with Tom, Whitney, Jacob, and Amanda this weekend, and I am grateful for how excited those sweet kids get when they see me. And I am grateful that we could all enjoy today, including some of the lights on Temple Square, in spite of not feeling well.