What would it be like to never feel guilty again? What would it be like to never feel shame again? What would it be like to feel a deep, peaceful satisfaction, all the time, no matter how intense life gets? What would it be like to feel complete contentment and peace at all times and in all places? What would it be like to be free of stress and to have the confidence to boldly march into the hardest of your endeavors? What would it be like to be completely free from anxiety and depression, except in the concern you feel for others and the sorrow you feel for their poor choices? What would it be like to be absolutely immune to temptation? What would it be like to be stronger than any substance, person, or situation—to be truly free to act and feel how you choose?
This is what Christ offers to you:
5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17)
Those who have faith in Christ desire to be forgiven of past sins and desire to abstain from future sin:
16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.
17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:
18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead. (Alma 22)
In seeking and obeying God, the objective of the faithful is not just to obey arbitrary rules, but to actually be like Jesus in how they act, what they desire, and who they become.
14 ...have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?
18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?
19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? (Alma 5)
The Lord told us to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37) He said this was “the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:38) If we desire the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, then we won’t desire anything else above him. Like Paul, we will “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8) It is what David described when he said: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
If we desire Christ, we will do all things and suffer all things, even unto death, if that is what it takes. This consummate desire is what the Lord described as hungering and thirsting after righteousness, which he indicated is the price required to receive what is sought:
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
Seek the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, and you will find him.