Before we were born, we lived with God. He presented a plan to us. We were to be given bodies and an experience here on earth; we were to learn many wonderful things through experiences, some of which would be very intense and painful. We would be able to continue to make choices, but our memories of God and His love for us would be taken away for a while in order for us to learn to live by faith and understand ourselves what we truly want. All of these experiences were to help us become like God. The ultimate goal was for us to begin to become more like Him and then to return to Him with that experience to continue progressing. We would be able to live with our families forever in perfect happiness.
But there were two things that would stop us from coming back to live with God and become like Him: death and sin. In order to live with God and become like Him, we need to have a perfected body, but our bodies on earth wouldn’t be perfect; we could get sick, have emotional challenges, etc., and eventually we would die, or our spirits and bodies would be separated. Also, we would sin, or make choices that were against God’s will while on earth. “No unclean thing can enter into his kingdom (3 Nephi 27:19),” meaning if we chose to disobey God, which we would, we would not be able to live with Him again.
God chose Jesus Christ to save us from sin and death. Jesus Christ overcame death through His resurrection, or when He came to life again three days after He had been killed. He overcame the effects of sin by suffering for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. All people will be resurrected; it is a gift given to everyone. However, because we are responsible for our own sins, and because we have the ability given to us by God to make choices, we choose to accept Christ’s payment for our sins or not. Jesus will not force us to accept what He has done for us. We will not be forced to be forgiven.
This is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is so important to live. As we trust Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, we want to live His teachings. We need to repent, or change what we’re currently doing to fit what He has taught us. We can then promise Him that we will follow His example and then show Him that we are willing to accept His help by being baptized. He then gives us the gift of the Holy Ghost or the opportunity of having the Holy Ghost guide and help us know how to follow His example. If we continue to follow Jesus’ teachings, He will change our hearts and we will become more like Him. He will help us learn what we need to learn and He’ll help us return to live with God. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way for us to accept all the help Christ gives us. It is the way established by God to help us progress and change. It is how we choose to accept Jesus Christ. If we do, we will live with God again.
Accepting and following Jesus Christ has brought me great peace, satisfaction, and happiness. I have learned who I am, what makes me happy, and how loving and kind God, our Heavenly Father, is. If you want to learn more about what Jesus has done for us and how we can accept all of His help, feel free to visit http://mormon.org/jesus-christ/
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