The Greatest Gift and Blessing

At this time of the year we celebrate one of the greatest gifts that God has given us: the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Christ was to come to earth as a baby, grow and learn from earthly parents, and then establish His church, call 12 Apostles, perform miracles, then suffer and die for us so that we might have the opportunity to repent and return to the live in the presence of God.
When Christ suffered for us, He took upon Himself not only our sins and mistakes, but also our pains, our sicknesses, our suffering, our guilt, our embarrassment, our fear and all of our weaknesses. It was so much that He "bled] from every pore, and...suffer[ed] both body and spirit - and would that [He] might not drink the bitter cup..." (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18). Yet Christ suffered so that we could repent.
One reason that He suffered all these things was so that He would be obedient to the Father's commandments.
However, there was another reason that He took upon Himself all of our pains and our transgressions and sins.
In Alma chapter 7, verses 11-13, it says that Christ would "go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind..."
Then the prophet Alma says, "...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
Christ suffered everything that we would ever go through so that He would know how to help us, how to lift us up, how to strengthen us because He had already been there. If no one else on earth knows how you feel, Christ does because He went through it. He was there. He struggled with exactly the same thing you and I do. He knows how we feel.
"God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son..." (John 3:16) And Christ so loved us that He suffered for us, He gave His life for us, and He extends His hand toward us that we may receive mercy if we will repent.
What a blessing it is to know that Christ lived and died for us. And what an even greater blessing to know that He lives now!
"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22)