"It is important to remember that Jesus was capable of sinning, that he could have succumbed, that the plan of life and salvation could have been foiled, but that he remained true. Had there been no possibility of his yielding to the enticement of Satan, there would have been no real test, no genuine victory in the result...He was perfect and sinless, not because he had to be, but rather because he clearly and determinedly wanted to be." ~Howard W. Hunter
This quote was actually first brought to my attention in Institute up at school this week. I loved it. I read it again during sacrament meeting and shared it with my family members. When we speak of the Savior's perfect, sinless life do we remember that it was possible for him to sin? Jesus was not stripped of his agency during his mortal journey. He could have succumbed. But the glorious fact is that he did not. The temptations Jesus overcame were more ferocious and relentless than anything we will ever face. But our older brother did not let us down. I love what President Hunter goes on to say, "We should take strength for this battle from the fact that Christ was victorious not as a God but as a man."
Because that, he knows how to succor us as man. I believe that to be true.
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