Grief

Grief, the sense of suffering that accompanies loss, is a common part of mortality as we lose loved ones or experience other tragedies. Because Jesus Christ has suffered the pains and afflictions of all mankind, we can be comforted and healed as we pray to the Father in His name and rely upon His Atonement.

While serving as Presiding Bishop of the Church, Elder Merrill J. Bateman taught:

“Just as the lame man at the pool of Bethesda needed someone stronger than himself to be healed (see John 5:1–9), so we are dependent on the miracles of Christ’s atonement if our souls are to be made whole from grief, sorrow, and sin. If grieving parents and loved ones have faith in the Savior and his plan, death’s sting is softened as Jesus bears the believers’ grief and comforts them through the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, broken hearts are mended and peace replaces anxiety and sorrow. … As Isaiah stated concerning the Savior, ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: … And with his stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:4–5).

“The prophet Alma also spoke of Christ’s healing power as he taught the Gideonites. Referring to Christ, Alma stated that he would go forth ‘suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. … And he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, … that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people’ (Alma 7:11–12). Whatever the source of pain, Jesus understands and can heal the spirit as well as the body” (“The Power to Heal from Within,” Ensign or Liahona, May 1995, 13–14).