One by One

One of my favorite passages in the Book of Mormon is 3 Nephi 17. It is one of the passages that resonates most with me of who Christ truly is and what great love he has for each of his children. I especially love verses 5-7,

"5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.
7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy."

Here Christ doesn't just leave when his message is finished as it seems was his plan. Seeing the deep love the people had for him he decides to stay and to heal their sick and afflicted. He takes the time to heal each one individually as they were brought to him.

This is just one of the many examples of Christ's deep love for each individual person and his willingness to take the time to care for them one by one. Often we (and most religions) think of God almost as a great administrator, that He loves his children and takes care of them, but not that he really knows and takes care of us individually.

Or if we do know it in our head we don't fully understand it's deep meaning in our heart. When and as we come to understand how much God loves us individually then it changes how we look at the gospel and others. The gospel becomes less about law and duty and more about love. When we feel and understand God's love for us then our hearts are changed, we want more and more to follow the gospel. It changes us in amazing ways.

Sometimes it's easy as long time members to become rote in our membership, to just go through the motions, but if we simply seek to draw closer to Christ, to understand His love, then our hearts will naturally change. We will go from "going through the motions" to having real intent and a desire to serve God and the gospel will become so much more meaningful to us.