I’ve grown up believing that Christ is my Redeemer, but sometimes it’s hard to believe that he can actually save me.
In psychology, a flashbulb memory refers to a vivid memory of a past moment, usually a shocking or emotionally charged event. I have a flashbulb memory from when I was a teenager: a moment of heartbreaking news that abruptly shattered my view of a just world. The setting and the emotions are clear in my mind even to this day. I distinctly remember thinking, “Is Jesus really going to be able to fix this?”
Photo by Jeffrey Czum
It’s easy to logically believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Many of us learn this while growing up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But feeling the reality of a Savior is a different matter. It’s hard to connect with someone that isn’t physically here, and we sometimes wonder if Jesus really can save us.
“The Exquisite Gift of the Son,” a talk given by Elder Matthew S. Holland, explores Jesus’s role as our Savior. Elder Holland discusses the various kinds of suffering we experience in this life. This includes suffering from our own sins or suffering from the natural hardship that comes from being in a fallen world. But he encourages us when he says, “Regardless of the causes of our worst hurts and heartaches, the ultimate source of relief is the same: Jesus Christ.”
There are still times when I wonder as I did in that flashbulb memory: “Can Jesus really fix this? Can he really fix me?” Unfortunately, that news that I received years ago was not fixed and won’t be in this life. But what I do know is that Jesus did what he promised he would do, and I came to know a loving Savior and Redeemer who will fix everything in time. He strengthened me in a time when I needed him, and he will do so again and again until “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4).
Read or watch Elder Matthew S. Holland’s “The Exquisite Gift of the Son” to discover more about Jesus’s role as our Savior.
Source: General Conference
FEATURE IMAGE BY JEFFREY CZUM
—Adi Marshall, Latter-day Insights
Find more insights
Check out Abby Haralson’s article “A Savior with Scars” to see more about the love that Christ has for us.
Read Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk “Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet” to learn more about why we need a Savior.