I found something in The Infinite Atonement that goes along perfectly with what I was discussing before about the Lord loving broken things. Yes, He loves us to be broken because only THEN can He fix us--He requires this of us in 3 Nephi 9:20. But it goes beyond that. It is appropriately symbolic that we must have a broken heart to enjoy the blessings of the atoning sacrifice perhaps because, as Elder Talmage submitted, the Lord died, quite literally, of a broken heart. "The strong, loud utterance, immediately following which He bowed His head and 'gave up the ghost,' when considered in connection with other recorded details, points to a physical rupture of the heart as the direct cause of death...Great mental stress, poignant emotion either of grief or joy, and intense spriritual struggle are among the recognized causes of heart rupture." The book goes on, "Perhaps the inspired psalmist saw literally and figuratively the cause of the Savior's demise when he sang, "Reproach hath broken my heart (Psalm 69:20)." We, in the same token, must consecrate our all to be eligible for the blessings of the Atonement. 2 Nephi 2:7 states: "[Christ] offereth himself a sacrifice for sin...unto all those who have a broken heart and contrite spirit..."
He not only loves broken things, but has been a broken thing so as to succor us. I think that's love in its purest form.
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