**WARNING – Contains spoilers from Avatar the Last Airbender**

This week in my studies and experiences as I have been pondering how I can become a better follower of Christ, I was in a lesson where we were talking about how we are sometimes blind towards each other and towards God and His Son Jesus Christ, and I received some cool insights. One of the people in the class shared that we should recognize that we know little about those around us and have little insight into their lives. We may never know their whole story completely and that should fill our hearts with compassion towards them and help us be more willing to give those around us grace. We don’t know all of the hidden hurt and the loads people carry. This can inspire us to try and get to know those around us and rely on the Savior’s grace as we try to lift and serve those around us. Because He suffered for each of us and knows each of our individual struggles personally, He has a divine compassion for us and looks out for us and provides multiple opportunities for us to learn and grow and develop into the wonderful sons and daughters of God He knows we can become.

I have recently been watching the live action of Avatar the Last Airbender, and in the last episode I watched, we learn about some of Zuko’s backstory and the significance of his crew and why he has been out at sea with them for three years. Zuko’s father is the leader of their nation and was with his generals and was discussing a military maneuver. They planned on sacrificing a group of new recruits to give them a military advantage, and upon hearing this, Zuko speaks out against the idea. In the end, Zuko must engage in hand-to-hand combat with his father where he gets the upper hand and decides not to hurt his father. His father punishes him for having shown compassion, scars his face, and later banishes him on a hopeless quest along with the group of new recruits that he had spoken up to protect. During previous episodes, Zuko had been rough with his crew, and they had withdrawn their loyalty, but they regain their devotion to their prince when General Iroh tells them of the sacrifice Zuko had made for them. This is the scene in the picture above and it touched my heart because it reminded me of the Savior and our relationship with Him. We can draw some parallels between Zuko and the Savior I believe. Like Zuko, the Savior left His home and embarked on a seemingly hopeless quest, saving all of mankind. He was sent by His Father, and like Zuko, He had a compassionate heart and that compassion gave Him the strength to carry our burdens and our sorrows. We can forget at times what the Savior did for us, or some of us may not know or yet understand the depths of sacrifice that the Savior made for us. I don’t fully understand; I hope I can understand one day and become committed enough to lay down my life for my Lord or in other words, consecrate my life to Him. Hopefully we can choose to remember and learn about what the Savior has done for us, so we too, like Zuko’s crew, can exclaim one day, “Our Prince has returned!” and give honor and reverence to Him. Like Zuko had mercy on his father, we can lay down our weapons of war and show compassion to those around us, and through the Savior’s help we can return to our heavenly home with honor having been faithful servants to our Prince.