Why Did He Do It?

"7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body,hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.

10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men." (Mosiah 3:7-10)

This is like "Gospel in a nutshell". Prophesying of Christ, King Benjamin explained the kinds of things He would do (heal people, cast out devils, raise the dead etc). Then he talks about what Christ would go through in His mortal existence. All sorts of pains and afflictions, which He suffered for us. In verse 7, the phrase "so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people" just shows to show why He went through what he did: because of wickedness of his people (read: us, as in he suffered for OUR wickedness).

I will always remember something one of my seminary teachers said about the scriptures: to always pay attention when the word "that" is present, because this is something that should be thought of as "so that", or "in order to make sure". In both verses 9 and 10, you see that word. In 9, "he cometh unto his own, THAT salvation might come unto the children of men", and in 10, "all these things are done THAT a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men".

He did it for us. He loves us, and wanted us to have agency, the power to choose. He was willing to suffer greatly so that I can choose my own way. When I consider this, I always feel like I can do better, that I can improve my life. Not because I think it will make His suffering any less, but out of respect for what He has done for me personally. I am truly grateful for it.