A Modern Prophet Speaks About Christmas

by

Apostle Henry B. Eyring

First Counselor in the First Presidency

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 

What all of uslong for in our hearts, at Christmastime and always, is to feel bound together in love with the sweet assurance that it can last forever.  This is the promise of eternal life, which God has called His greatest gift to His children (See Doctrine and Covenants 14:7).  That is made possible by the gifts to us of His Beloved Son: the Savior's life and mission, Atonement and Resurrection.  It is through the Savior's life and mission that we have the assurance that we can be together in love and live forever in families.

Christmas Homecoming

The feeling of longing for home is born into us.  That wonderful dream cannot become real without great faith--enough for the Holy Ghost to lead us to repentance, baptism, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants with God.  This faith requires enduring bravely the trials of mortal life.  Then, in the next life, we can be welcomed by our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son to that home of our dreams.

Even in this life we can have an assurance of the coming of that day and feel some of the joys we will know when at last we arrive home.  The celebration of the Savior's birth at Christmas gives us special opportunities to experience those joys in this life.

As we gather in that heavenly home, we will be surrounded by those who have been forgiven of all sin and who have forgiven each other.  We can taste some of tha joy now, especially as we remember and celebrate the Savior's gifts tous.  He came into the world to be the Lamb of God, topay the price of all of the sins of His Father's children in mortality so that all might be forgiven.  In the Christmas season we feel a greater desire to remember and ponder the Savior's words.  He warned us that we cannot be forgiven unless we forgive others (See Matthew 6:14-15).  That is often hard to do, so you will need to pray for help.  This help to forgive will come most often when you are allowed to see that you have given as much or more hurt than you have received.

When you act on that answer to your prayer for strength to forgive, you will feel a burden lifted from  your shoulders.  Carrying a grudge is a heavy burden.  As your forgive, you will feel the joy of being forgiven.  At this Christmastime you can give and receive the gift of forgiveness.  The feeling of happiness that will come will be a glimpse of what we can feel at home together in the eternal home for which ye yearn.

A time of joy together

There is another glimpse of that joyful future home that we can see more easily at Christmastime.  It is the feeling of givieng with a generous heart.  This can come as we feel the needs of others more than our own and when we sense how generous God has been to us.

It helps to see the kindness of others at Christmastime.  How many times have our gone to leave a gift on a doorstep, hoping not to be notice, only to find more than one unmarked gift already there?  Have you felt, as I have, the impression to help someone only to find that what y ou were inspired to give was exactly what someone needed at that very moment?  This is a wonder assurance that God knows all of our needs and counts on us to fill the needs of others around us. 

King Benjamin Teaching His People

God sends those messages to us with more confidence at Christmastime, knowing that we will respond because our hearts are more sensitive to the Savior's example and to the words of His servants. At Christmastime, we are more likely to have read recently and been touched by the words of King Benjamin.  He taught his people, and he teaches us, that the overwhelming gift of forgiveness that we receive should make us feel an overflowing generosity toward others.  "And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins.  And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain?  Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy."

The Christmas Season

The Christmas season give us encouragement to remember Him and His infinite generosity.  Remembering His generosity will help us feel and respond to the inspiration that there is someone who needs our help, and it will let us see the hand of God reaching to us when He sends someone to succor us, as He so often does.  There is joy ingiveing and in receiving the generosity that God inspires, especially at Christmas.

There have been times, often at Christmas, when we have felt parts of what we will experience when we at last come home to the Father who loves us and answers our prayers and to the Savior who has lighted our lives and lifted us up.

I testify that because of Him, you may have an assurance that you can go home not only at Christmastime but also to live forever with a family whom you love and who love each other.

Apostle Henry B. Eyring

A Personal Witness of Jesus Christ