Alma 34:14-15 (#230)
Question
What role does sacrifice play in your life? In what ways is it making you more holy? In what ways is it making you more grateful?
Scripture
14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.
15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.
Alma 34:14-15
Quote
“In ancient days, sacrifice meant to make something or someone holy,” which links it, in an interdependent way, to the definition of the word chasten—“to purify.” Likewise, in ancient Israel, forgiveness came through a sin or trespass offering, or sacrifice. The sacrifice not only “point[ed] to that great and last sacrifice” but also helped engender a deeper sense of gratitude for the Savior’s Atonement. An unwillingness to sacrifice as part of our penitence mocks or belittles Christ’s greater sacrifice for the same sin and trivializes His suffering—a callous sign of ingratitude.
On the other hand, through the sweet irony of sacrifice, we actually gain something of eternal worth—His mercy and forgiveness and eventually “all that [the] Father hath.” As part of the repentance process, sacrifice also acts as a healing balm to help replace “remorse of conscience” with “peace of conscience.” Without sacrifice, a person may find it hard to forgive himself or herself, because of a lingering consciousness of something withheld.
Elder Lynn G. Robbins
Bethene Zetterquist Photography 