The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love

Hear, O sons and daughters of the dust, and incline thine ear to a voice that speaketh of love, the most ancient of truths and the most enduring of powers. The holy Apostle of our day, James E. Faust, hath declared that the overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love of the Savior. This is no common love, fleeting as the shadow upon the sundial, but a love that is deep, eternal, and boundless, a love that is mingled with mercy, adorned with patience, clothed in grace, and crowned with forgiveness. It is a love that endureth through long-suffering, and it boweth down to raise the broken soul, even when that soul deemeth itself unworthy of rising.

Consider, O people, how mighty is this truth: that the Son of God would descend below all things, bearing anguish and sorrow beyond mortal comprehension, not for the righteous alone, but for each and all of us. He who was spotless became acquainted with grief, that those who are stained might be washed clean. This is the mystery of divine equity: the innocent suffering for the guilty, not as a tyrant’s decree, but as the fullest outpouring of love. What mortal man, in his smallness, can fully grasp it? Yet in its embrace, the weary soul findeth rest.

Behold the story of Corrie ten Boom, a woman who endured the iron jaws of the Nazi camps. After the war, when one of her former captors approached her, asking forgiveness, her soul trembled. In her heart was no desire to forgive, for her wounds still bled. Yet she remembered the Christ, who forgave even upon the cross. In that moment, she lifted her hand, and as she did so, she felt divine grace surge within her. She forgave—not of her own power, but through the forgiving love of the Savior flowing through her. Here, my children, is living proof that the Atonement is not only a story of long ago, but a present force that breathes into mortal hearts.

Mark well this lesson: forgiveness is the highest fruit of divine love. To forgive is to free the soul from chains, both the chain of the offender and the chain of the offended. The Savior’s long-suffering showeth us that we too must be patient with the failings of others, as heaven is patient with ours. In every act of mercy, we mirror the Lord’s infinite mercy toward us. In every deed of grace, we reflect His light into a darkened world.

Take courage, ye who despair. For the Atonement declareth that no soul is cast away, no life is beyond reclaiming. Though thou hast stumbled a thousand times, the perfect love of the Christ remaineth, unbroken, unyielding. Like the shepherd who leaveth the ninety and nine to seek the one, He cometh unto thee still. Lift up thine eyes, and see how vast is the patience of God; He waiteth not to smite, but to embrace.

Therefore, let every man and woman take these words to heart. When thou art wronged, choose to answer with forgiveness. When thou art wearied by the faults of thy neighbor, answer with patience. When thou art tempted to condemn, answer with mercy. Let thy daily life be a small reflection of that perfect love which is eternal. For in so doing, thou becomest not only a follower of the Master, but a vessel through which His light shineth forth into generations yet unborn.

The lesson is plain: love as He loved. Forgive as He forgave. Endure as He endured. And when the storms of life beat upon thy soul, remember always this eternal truth: the Atonement is the wellspring of inexhaustible love. Drink deeply from it, and thy heart shall never thirst.