Fequent, But Not Common

This morning, I read and listened to President Uchtdorf's talk, The Gift of Grace, and found many blogworthy thoughts in it. I may spend the next few days blogging about it, section by section, even though I really want to move on and blog about the last few talks from the last General Conference before the next one starts.

Close to the beginning of his talk, President Uchtdorf says something that would be startling if it were taken out of context. "The Savior’s Atonement cannot become commonplace in our teaching, in our conversation, or in our hearts." What he meant by this wasn't that we shouldn't talk about the Atonement too often, but that we shouldn't talk about it too casually.

We should teach about the Atonement as frequently as we can. In fact, I heard someone once suggest that every lesson we teach in the church should relate to the Atonement in some way. As President Uchtdorf said:

In Jacob’s words, “Why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him?” But as “we talk of Christ, … rejoice in Christ, … preach of Christ, [and] prophesy of Christ” at every opportunity, we must never lose our sense of awe and profound gratitude for the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God.

It may be difficult to maintain proper reverence for the Atonement if we hear about it too often, so we must be careful that, whenever we speak of the Atonement, we do so with reverence and respect. This counsel is especially important to me, because I blog about spiritual things daily, usually including the Atonement. While I speak of the Atonement frequently, I need to make sure I don't treat it casually. But this counsel also applies to anyone who ever teaches in church or who shares the gospel in any other setting. While we should share our religion with anyone who'd be receptive to it, and we should teach about the Atonement whenever we teach about anything in church, we should keep the Atonement sacred and not let it become "commonplace."

This counsel may be difficult to follow. It'll require careful practice. But I know that as we make the Atonement the central feature of our worship, our teaching, and our lives, it will bring us closer to Jesus Christ, as long as we don't cheapen it through repetition.