What’s your relationship with Jesus like?
How do you develop that?
In Relief Society (the women’s class at LDS church) about 10 years ago, this question was raised.
I loved Jesus. I knew a lot about him. I tried to please Him and do what he would do.
But an interactive relationship?
I pondered this in full honesty.
“Well,” I thought, “I talk to Heavenly Father every day and share my heart with Him. And the Holy Ghost talks back to me and guides me in my life. But Jesus? What kind of a relationship do I have with Him?”
I was kind of stumped.
Mormons aren’t really taught how to have a relationship with Him. There’s lip service, sure. But a relationship usually denotes some frequent personal interaction.
We follow Jesus, we love Him, we try to emulate Him.
We aren’t allowed to pray to Him.
And we don’t worship Him.
So there’s a bit of a conundrum.
….all stemming from the fact that Mormons don’t know Jesus is God.
If you ask a Mormon why Jesus was the one who performed the atonement (died for our sins), they will say only He could do it because only He lived a sinless life. It had to be someone sinless.
So theoretically, if somebody else was sinless, that other person could have done it.
What LDS doctrine lacks is this simple fact: Only Jesus could perform an infinite atonement because Jesus is God. And God himself needed to do it.
King Benjamin knew this, Abinadi knew this, Alma knew this. But for some reason Mormons don’t know it.
What gives?
My life changed when I started praying to the Father, knowing He is Jesus. He came to earth to live as Jesus and to die for me.
And I started worshipping and praising Jesus!!!
Finally, I had a relationship with Jesus.
The relationship I had with God all along!
Except even better, because now I knew who God is. And who He is not.
All I Possess 