"Anyone …will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? ....
"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that [life] is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy.... How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that [everyone has] to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. [We] have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
"Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that … to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, all will have to pay a token of that same price.
"For that reason I don’t believe [life] has ever been easy... I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.
"If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass” then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.
"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that [life] is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy.... How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that [everyone has] to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. [We] have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
"Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that … to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, all will have to pay a token of that same price.
"For that reason I don’t believe [life] has ever been easy... I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.
"If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass” then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.
"The Atonement will carry [you]. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life." ~Jeffrey R. Holland
6 comments:
I sometimes get lost in these sort of thoughts....
Thank you for sharing this, Tara! Happy Easter!
Elder Holland keeps getting thrown in my way these past few weeks, I think it's time to check him out. This is the other quote I came across in the past few weeks. It's from his book "Broken Things Mended"
"Just believing, just having a molecule of faith--that simple step, when focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been and always will be the first principle of His eternal gospel, the first step out of despair."
and I liked the dedication he made even more
"To all who feel that someone --or something--they love
is irreparably broken or irretrievably lost.
It is not."
There could not have been a greater post for this day!
Thank you, Tara. I love love love love Elder Holland and was truly touched by his talk at conference. I love this quote--this kind of stuff means so much more to me than it ever did before, and in so many ways, while I wish I weren't in this situation where I have come to appreciate it more, I am thankful that Christ is there to help me through it.
Beautiful post.
Tara I am a little late on reading this but oh I truly loved this post! You did a beautiful job in sharing the atonement of Christ!! Thank you for the reminder!! YOu are so wonderful for brining us a little closer to Him!!
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