Our Heavenly Father loves us and is eager to bless us because we are His children. He sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to make it possible for us to receive blessings we could receive in no other way.
King David testified of God’s love for us and acknowledged the role of the Savior in providing mercy to us:
Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed….
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psalm 84:9, 11
The prophet Alma quoted the prayers of two prophets, Zenos and Zenock, both of whom acknowledged that God is able to bless us abundantly because of Jesus Christ:
- Zenos: “It is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son” (Alma 33:11).
- Zenock: “Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son” (Alma 33:16).
After quoting these passages, Alma urged his listeners—the Zoramites—to “begin to believe in the Son of God.” He promised that God would make their burdens light “through the joy of his Son” (Alma 33:22-23).
During the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith prayed for the citizens of Jackson County, Missouri who had violently attacked church members and forced them to flee to neighboring counties. “Have mercy, O Lord, upon the wicked mob,” he said, “that they may repent of their sins if repentance is to be found.” He pleaded with God to prepare a way for church members to return to their homes, whether or not their antagonists had a change of heart. “But inasmuch as they will repent,” he said, “thou art gracious and merciful, and wilt turn away thy wrath when thou lookest upon the face of thine Anointed” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:50-53).
I love the imagery of the Father feeling compassion for us when He sees the face of His Son. He doesn’t have to look at His Son to feel love for us. But the Savior’s sacrifice exemplifies the depth of the Father’s love for us. (See John 3:16.) And the Savior represents the ideal to which we aspire and which His grace has placed within our reach—a reminder that we are valuable not because of what we are today but because of what we can become.
Today, I will be grateful for a Father who loves me and wants to bless me. I will also be grateful for a Savior who has made it possible for me to overcome my sins and weaknesses and obtain God’s most precious blessings.