I am a new freshman at BYU this semester and at this time of my life, I am facing a lot of new experiences and challenges. My personality does not deal well with change, and as I have endured this first month of college, I have experienced many emotions. When God gives you big opportunities, it is a chance to search yourself and understand who you are. I am grateful for these experiences and the chance to better understand myself.
Christ is waiting for us to let Him into our lives.
Being positive is one aspect that has helped me better understand myself. When I’m positive, I can focus on the things that matter most rather than be worried about all the things that are not going right. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the main contributing factor to my positive attitude. We must open our hearts and allow Christ to write upon them. This will bring happiness and guidance in our lives. If His gospel is written in our hearts, will our faith increase?
Often times, life doesn’t seem “fair.” All that is unfair about life can be made right by Christ’s atonement. The atonement works to strengthen, heal and cleanse each of us. We come closer to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost as we partake of the atonement. The atonement can be better understood when analogized with speeding tickets. When we get pulled over due to speeding, we get a ticket. Jesus has offered to pay our speeding tickets- every single one that we will ever receive. In fact, He already paid it! We can choose to allow Christ to cover the cost or we can repay the price. Which is silly if it has already been paid! By partaking of the atonement, we avoid the frustrations that come with “paying our tickets” through guilt, sorrow, sadness and loss of hope. We must rely on Christ and allow His act of charity to pay in full.
In Matthew, we read of the apostles in the midst of a storm and Christ is sitting in the boat with them. They must wake Him before He arises to aid them during their difficult time. We each experience this same thing! Christ is always with us, but we must ask for His help in order to receive it. He is willing and capable but we must be proactive in involving Christ into our lives. When we have external storms around us, we can choose to also have internal storms or to be calm inside. As long as Jesus is in the same boat as us, we won’t sink. And the storm will be made easier to bear with his support. He is there for each of us! He loves each of us! All we must do is ask for His hand in our lives. Cast your burdens upon him. Pray to Heavenly Father and tell Him about your pain. Give it all to Him and allow the atonement to take it away! Heavenly Father will give us answers and comfort through His Son. We can find His Son in the scriptures. They are the most reliable resource we have to find answers. I know that taking the time to study the scriptures will increase our understanding of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and ourselves! As we come to know them, we will come to know ourselves. That is my goal here at BYU. I want to come to know who I am, and I am going to do that by waking Jesus in my boat and asking for His atonement. I am already seeing positive progression and know that I will only continue upward with Him in mind.
This article was written by Mackenzie C., a student at Brigham Young University and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Additional Resources:
Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons
The Lord Jesus Christ in Mormonism
Recent Comments