Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God;” Many times we beat ourselves up for our sins and
transgressions. We don’t think that
other people struggle with what we are going through. There is only one who went through life
without sin, and that was Christ. We all
have sins, and we all sin daily, that is why Christ came and died for us.
The one-time Atonement is found in the Bible is also found
in Romans, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement” (Romans 5:11). We have Joy
in Christ because we know that He died for us.
That we can ALL be cleaned from our sins.
Christ was tempted in ALL things, so he can lead us through
our temptations and all the bad feelings that come from living an addiction.
Elder Neil L. Andersen told a story about when he was
growing up on his farm. A bull had died
and his dad woke him up so they could harvest the meet before it went bad. Working quickly Elder Andersen and his dad
skinned, cut, and harvested the meat. He
said that he would never forget the feeling of pulling his sticky and filthy
clothes off him after they had finished.
Then he said he spent hours in the shower, trying to get clean. He washed his hands, then his face, then his
hair, then back to his hands. He said he
would never forget that feeling of cleanliness after. All traces of the bull
, blood, and dirt were
gone.
This is likened to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance. We can be cleaned through and through because
Christ died for us. He can also help
keep us clean if we use His Atonement and ask for strength to not fall into
temptation.
We all fall, but we can all be lifted again by Him.
