Week 3, Day 2: He loveth our souls.

"And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations." - Alma 24:14

Can I just tell you how much I love the Anti-Nephi-Lehites? They were people truly converted to the Lord... their hearts, their souls, their lives. All of it was for the Lord. I can't even tell you how pumped up I get as I read and re-read their story. I come away thinking, "Yeah! I can do this! Hurrah for Israel!"

Yesterday as I read through the account, I loved the whole story, but that little phrase, "he loveth our souls" was the thing that struck me deepest, and I think it's because I struggle in that area. This woman gave me a heart chakra (hey, it was free) a couple months ago and informed me that my deepest struggle is an inability to feel unconditional love, even from a ever-caring and ever-present Father in Heaven. I think I have known of His love my whole life, but I don't think I've ever allowed myself to feel it, to really trust that He could love me, especially on days where I feel like an epic failure (see yesterday's blog).

So tonight, as I was pondering upon the Lord and how I have felt him (today has been a little rough), I decided to open my scriptures and that sweet phrase hit me once again.

He loveth our souls.

My whole life, I have taken my self-esteem from things such as my resume, my car, my clothes, my house, my grades, etc, etc. Then, at the end of last year, I found myself unemployed. My world came crashing down and gone was my faux self-esteem. Then one day, a few days after I lost my job, I read President Uchdorf's talk on the Love of God (yeah, I really like this talk) and it spoke to my soul. It once again gave me the message that Heavenly Father seems to constantly be trying to send me. These are the words that reach to my very soul:

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us.

I think is the thing that the Anti-Nephi-Lehites truly understood.

They felt the love of God, and it changed them. It changed their hearts. They trusted in their God. And they never turned back. Although I have a long way to go, I hope with all of my heart to be the same!