Believing Christ .. Happy Easter!

Well, I finally read this book, Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson. I loved it. I thought he did a wonderful job of explaining concepts and of giving applicable examples. I also found, reading it so soon after General Conference, that there were a lot of correlations between this book and Elder Holland's wonderful talk on Saturday Afternoon.

Here are some of my favorite lines and phrases from the book:

"Sometimes we assume that everyone else is doing better than we are. We think that other people are not sinners, that they keep all the commandments all of the time, and we loathe ourselves because we cannot do the same thing." He then goes on to use examples from both the scriptures and his own life to show that every one of us makes mistakes and that we all need the Mercy of God, so we shouldn't feel better or worse than others. We all are in the same boat.

"Atonement means taking two things that have become separated, estranged, or incompatible, like a perfect God and an imperfect me or you, and bringing them together again, thus making the two be "at one.""

"Of course you're not celestial material. Neither am I, neither is any of us. That's why we need the atonement of Christ, which can make us celestial."

"Do you really think that exaltation is a matter of reaching down into your guts and pulling out the energy and determination you need to live a perfect life? If so, you don't want a savior, you want to do it all yourself."

"The most important goal in mortality is becoming one with Christ through the gospel covenant and gaining access through that union to his perfection ..."

"Too many of us expend our precious energy worrying about our relative times (in the race) instead of keeping our eyes on the goal, putting one foot in front of the other, and enduring to the end."

"There is no heavier yoke than the demand for perfection .. and many Saints still struggle under its load. But the good news is that in Christ, we are set free of that crushing burden. He bore that particular burden for us ..."

"We must believe in Christ and we must believe in the justification by faith in Christ. We must be committed to both."

"We agree to give our Savior our best effort, to give him everything we have. We agree that perfection is our ultimate goal and that we will work with him toward that goal."

"He never requires more than I am able to give and what he does require of me is always appropriate to my knowledge and circumstances. That is why I mustn't be discouraged that I haven't made as much progress as Brother X or Sister Y."

"Have faith in Christ; do the best you can; don't try to do more than you can."

"The covenant must be renewed and reaffirmed on a regular basis. we need frequent opportunities for course corrections."

"I can't keep the commandments all the time no matter how hard I try ... I can with absolute honesty witness that I am willing to. I can swear that this is the desire of my heart. I can affirm that I hunger and thirst after these things, that I will do all I can do be obedient."

"Above all else, God wants our hearts. Imperfect performance can be corrected, sins can be remitted, mistakes can be erased--but God can do nothing with an unwilling and rebellious heart until it repents. Weakness can be save; rebellion cannot."

"It isn't fair--it's merciful, and thank God it is so."

"Jesus Christ does not mind this unfairness. He is willing to suffer unfairly and compensate justice himself out of his own person in order to extend mercy to weaker beings like us."

"Trying our hardest to keep the commandments and be like Christ is part of our covenant obligation, not because we can succeed at them in this life, but because the attempt, the committment to try, demonstrates our sincerity and our committment to the covenant; it is a statement of our goals and desires. Our valiant attempts show that we really do hunger and thirst after righteousness."

"There is a difference between being unable to conquer all my sins right now, in which case the covenant promises me hope, and being unwilling to even try."

"God requires the best and the highest within us. He requires our loyalty, our service to God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. He demands ongoing repentance and continual re committment. And he .. asks us to trust him, to accept his word on faith."

Ok, so I know this is so many. SORRY. But it's that good a book. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it, as well as Holland's conference talk.

I am so grateful, at this Easter time, for the love of my Father in Heaven and the atonement of Christ. Happy Easter everyone!