President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued an invitation to reflect each Christmas and Easter on Jesus Christ’s mortal life and mission, and most important, his “condescension to save you.”
“We should study His life and model His discipleship,” he said. “His condescension, culminating in His Atonement, gives hope, direction and purpose to our lives.”
Speaking during a devotional on Tuesday, December 1, 2025, at the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University, President Christofferson invited listeners to also “think of your own condescension, its purpose, and how you too, having descended into a fallen world, may with ‘good cheer’ rise above and overcome the world with Christ.”
Condescension
President Christofferson explained that condescension means “to descend voluntarily from a higher rank or dignity to a lower level or status.”
Jesus, “a divine being with intelligence and power sufficient to create this earth,” laid aside His glory and powers to descend and live as a mortal man, experiencing hunger, deprivation, fatigue, pain, persecution, and rejection.
“Surely it is by divine design that the Son of God lived a life and performed a ministry that not merely tell us, but show us the way of discipleship, the way to God,” he taught.
His willingness to live in this fallen world and show us how to live His gospel in day-to-day life “is truly an act of genuine love.”
Visit Newsroom to read the full summary of the devotional.
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