From the Church

"You Are Not Alone in This" Elder Holland Details Christ's Empathy for Feelings of Loneliness

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Now more than ever, in this fast-paced digital world, we might feel isolated or alone, or maybe we feel that no one can understand what we are going through. These feelings are valid and can be relieved in part with the knowledge that the Savior experienced everything we might be going through.  

In a new video by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, “You Are Not Alone in This,” he details the Savior’s divine empathy for those experiencing loneliness and Christ’s role in the Atonement. 

Elder Holland references the many times when the Savior felt that He was utterly abandoned or isolated in His suffering. While Christ took upon himself the sins of the world in Gethsemane, His disciples, even at His request, could not stay awake one hour with Him.

Christ also suffered on the cross calling out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?1” Elder Holland notes that Christ felt completely alone, but he also assures us that God was never closer to the Savior than in that moment. 

Elder Holland details the purpose behind the Savior feeling such intense loneliness and testifies that we are not alone in our own mortal journeys. 

“The Savior had to feel alone because the whole nature of the Atonement is that He had to carry the sins and sorrows and the sufferings and sickness of all mankind on that one little set of shoulders.” Elder Holland continues, “He had to feel that He was alone because He needs to know how you feel when you feel alone.” Watch the full video below.

To read more about loneliness and the Atonement visit ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Find more mental health resources at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Notes: 

1. Matthew 27.46

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