Discouragement.....

Discouragement

(Bruce C. Hafen)

          “Some Church members feel weighed down with discouragement about the circumstances of their personal lives, even when they are making sustained and admirable efforts.  Frequently, these feelings of self-disappointment come not from wrongdoing, but from stresses and troubles for which we may not be fully to blame.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to these experiences because it applies to all of life.  The Savior can wipe away all of our tears, after all we can do….

          “The Savior’s atonement is…the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness.  The Atonement is not just a sinners”.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ covers more than the consequences of sin.  The Atonement covers all the effects of the Fall of Adam.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained:

          “Since not all human sorrow and pain is connected to sin, the full intensiveness of the Atonement involved bearing our pains, infirmities, and sicknesses, as well as our sins.  Whatever our sufferings, we can safely cast our ‘care upon him; for he careth for [us]’ (1 Peter 5:7)” (Not My Will, But Thine” [1988], 51).