Burdens

Burdens

Jesus, our Shepherd, has "marked the path and led the way, And ev'ry point defines" (Hymns, 1985, no. 195). His clearly defined footprints are easy to see. They are pressed distinctly and deeply into the soil of the second estate, deeply and distinctly because of the enormous weight which pressed down upon Him, including the awful burden of all of our individual sins. (Ensign, May 1988, p. 9.)

[Christ's] yoke, when fully and squarely placed upon us, is much lighter than the weight of sin. No burden is as heavy as the burden of the "natural man"! The annoying load of ambivalence and the hecticness of hesitation produce their own aggravations and frustrations. (Men and Women of Christ, p. 103.)

Happily, the commandment "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29) is a principle which carries an accompanying and compensating promise from Jesus: "and ye shall find rest unto your souls." This is a very special form of rest resulting from the shedding of certain needless burdens: fatiguing insincerity, exhausting hypocrisy, and the strength-sapping quest for recognition, praise, and power. Those of us who fall short, in one way or another, often do so because we carry such unnecessary and heavy baggage. Being overloaded, we sometimes stumble, and then we feel sorry for ourselves. ("'Meek and Lowly.'")

So it is that bearing one another's burdens in daily life consists not only in carrying the physical burdens or helping out in the obvious ways but also by bearing one another's burdens as we "put up" with each other's imperfections-repeatedly and frustratingly! As we witness, firsthand, the soul-struggles of others to develop a particular virtue, we can see how vital it is that we be more filled with loving-kindness and long-suffering. (Lord, Increase Our Faith, p. 112.)


(Cory H. Maxwell, ed., The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], 35.)