The Ultimate Price

      I was asked to speak in church today. The topic I was asked to address was how forgiving ourselves can help us forgive others and, ultimately, reconcile us to God. I did a lot of studying and pondering as I sought to know the message that the Lord would have me share.

  

      We were in Oklahoma visiting Daniel's sister and her sweet family last week for Labor Day weekend. While there, we spent an afternoon at the lake. Our brother-in-law's father brought his kayaks to the lake and we had a blast paddling around! (I think I might have enjoyed it more than anyone else!) It is very rare that I get a moment alone with my thoughts, but I had one of those rare moments that day! As I paddled by myself around the lake and pondered about my talk, the Lord inspired me with a story that could teach the importance of forgiving ourselves when we make a mistake. This story has blessed me and touched my heart; I would feel selfish keeping it to myself, so I decided to share it.

      I want it to be very clear that I cannot take credit for this. This story was impressed upon my mind by the Lord. I simply wrote down what He taught me. Here it is:

      There once was a young man. He had a bright future ahead of him and he was filled with potential. He was beloved by all who knew him. One day, however, he made a grave mistake in a moment of foolishness. This grave mistake resulted in his imprisonment. His only chance of being released from prison was if someone on the outside were to pay for his release. The sum of money required in exchange for his release was exorbitant. When the young man learned of the price required in exchanged for his release, he realized that he would be in prison for the rest of his life. “No one could love me, a criminal, enough to pay such a sum for my release,” he thought.

      However, there was another man, a man of great wealth, who heard of this young man’s plight. This man had worked tirelessly all his life and had made a great fortune. He thought of all the good the young man could still do with his life. He thought of the despair that the young man must be feeling. The wealthy man felt compassion for the young man. In fact, he felt so much compassion that he decided to pay the unfathomable price required in exchange for the release of the young man. The wealthy man gave everything that he had so that the young man could be set free.

     With great disbelief at the miraculous turn of events, the prison guards came to release the young man from his cell and tell him of his good fortune. To their surprise, the young man refused to believe that such a wonderful thing could be true. “How could anyone love me enough to pay such a price? I’m a lowly criminal. No. It can’t be true.” Rather than accepting the freedom that the wealthy man had paid the price to offer, he chose to stay in prison.

      Just like the young man, when we choose not to forgive ourselves (or another who has wronged us), in a sense, we are choosing to stay in prison when the ransom has already been paid. And just like the wealthy man in the story, the Savior has already paid the most infinite price imaginable for our sins and the sins of others. 

     When we think of the gift of our Savior’s life, we often think of the moments that adorned His final week on Earth, specifically His time in Gethsemane and ultimate death on the cross. These moments are surely crowning moments of His earthly ministry and gift to us. However, do we stop to think about the fact that His entire life was His gift to us? 

      From the moment He was born until the moment He died, He sacrificed His will and the natural man to submit to the Father’s will and fulfill His plan. Though divine, He was not exempt from the divine law of agency or the many trials, tribulations, and discomforts that accompany this life. He paid the ultimate price; He gave everything He had. Every. Single. Day. How could we ever say that such a price isn’t sufficient for the wrong that we, or someone else, have committed?

     I love Jesus Christ with all my heart. I know that He lives and that His Atonement is real. Everything He did was out of love for us and Father in Heaven. Now it is our turn to do everything out of love for Him and our Father in Heaven. He prepared the way for our happiness, and He wants us to be happy - not just in the end, but here and now. The Atonement of Jesus Christ brings happiness in this life as well as in the world to come. 

     Preparing and delivering this message blessed me. I hope that what I learned can bless someone else as well.