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Forgiving
Ourselves
"That great morning of forgiveness may not come at once. Do not give up
if at first you fail. Often the most difficult part of repentance is to
forgive yourself. Discouragement is part of that test. Do not give up.
That brilliant morning will come." Elder Boyd K. Packer, General
Conference, October 1995
Don't ever feel that you can't be forgiven. Our Father in Heaven loves
you. He is your Father. He is your Heavenly Parent. He has great concern
for you. He reaches out to you in love and in forgiveness . . .. The
Lord has said, "I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you
it is required to forgive all me" (D&C 64:10). That is a mandate to us.
Our Father in Heaven will take care of the forgiveness. President Gordon
B. Hinckley Southern Utah University, February 11, 1997
The principal question before us is not do we comprehend the atonement,
but do we accept it. George Q. Morris April 1956 General Conference
Report, page 112
Divine forgiveness is possible even when men do not forgive us. If we
have the justified assurance that God has forgiven us, we can forgive
ourselves and outlast any unforgiving attitude of those about us. Neal
A. Maxwell, A More Excellent Way",
p. 64
We should be patient and forgiving of ourselves as well as others. It
has always struck me as being sad that those among us who would not
think of reprimanding our neighbor, much less a total stranger, for
mistakes that have been made or weaknesses that might be evident, will
nevertheless be cruel and unforgiving to themselves. When the scriptures
say to judge righteously, that means with fairness and compassion and
charity. That's how we must judge ourselves. We need to be patient and
forgiving of ourselves, just as we must be patient and forgiving of
others. Howard W. Hunter, The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter.
For those who pay the price required by true repentance, the promise is
sure. You can be clean again. The despair can be lifted. The sweet peace
of forgiveness will flow into your lives. In this dispensation the Lord
spoke with clarity when he said, "Behold, he who has repented of his
sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C
58:42). Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson.
We must ask for forgiveness. All of us have made mistakes. We've all
done things we ought not to have done, or we have neglected to do things
we should have done. And not a one of us can fool God as we kneel down.
We can't lie to Him. We've got to just talk plainly to Him, just as if
He was sitting in a chair by you. You've got to spell it all out. You've
got to say, "Father, I know you know. Help me." Harold B. Lee, The
Teachings of Harold B. Lee.
And when God has forgiven us, which He is so eternally anxious to do,
may we have the good sense to walk away from those problems, to leave
them alone, to let the past bury the past. If one of you has made a
mistake, even a serious mistake, but you've done all you can according
to the teachings of the Lord and the governance of the Church to confess
it and feel sorrow for it and set it as right as can be, then trust in
God, walk into His light and leave the ashes behind you. President
Gordon B. Hinckley General Conference, Oct 1996
How will I know when I am forgiven? That is a serious problem for a lot
of young people. They make mistakes, some of them very small mistakes
and some of them major mistakes. They worry, wonder and fret and stew
about their mistakes. Please ask the Lord to forgive you if you feel you
have made a mistake. There may be a penalty that you will have to pay if
the mistake is a serious one. President Gordon B. Hinckley, Jordan Utah
South regional conference, March 2, 1997
If there be any within the sound of my voice who nurture in their hearts
the poisonous brew of enmity toward another, I plead with you to ask the
Lord for strength to forgive. This expression of desire will be of the
very substance of your repentance. It may not be easy, and it may not
come quickly. But if you will seek it with sincerity and cultivate it,
it will come. And even though he whom you have forgiven continues to
pursue and. threaten you, you will know you have done what you could to
effect a reconciliation. There will come into your heart a peace
otherwise unattainable. That peace will be the peace of Him who said:
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: "But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt.
6:14-15).
President Gordon B. Hinckley CR Oct 1980
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