For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The verse following it is not quite as popular, but really stood out to me this morning:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

This verse is just further evidence of God’s love. Sometimes we can feel we are not worth being loved. It seems we would rather have a pile of rocks heaped upon us that have to stand before God with all our imperfections. But here we are reminded that God did not send his son to condemn us, but rather to save us! This is good news indeed.

I think we can look at our church leaders in a similar manner. Sometimes when we have made mistakes that need to be confessed to our leaders we may be a bit scared thinking leaders may be so appalled that they will kick us out of the church. I feel Bishops are called to help us and allow us to be healed by the atonement rather than to condemn us.

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

I found this scripture rather interesting. I found myself pondering what Jesus may have been praying about all night. I try to pictures him speaking with his father all night. It must have been beautiful. For one thing, after this night he called his apostles. Wow, if he prayed that long to choose his apostles, how long should we pray when we have the responsibility to extend callings?