I posted Saturday a song and a quote about forgiveness, but I don't know that it adequatly sums up everything I feel about the subject. So I am posting practically my entire week about it. That, however, is not to say I will do better a second time.
This is not to say it is a cop out for not writing for a week, but I have honestly been thinking about it. What an interesting concept. On Sunday we had a wonderful Ward Conference and a verse in the sacrament hymn hit me like it never had before:
As now our minds review the past,
We know we must repent;
The way to thee is righteousness —
The was thy life was spent.
Forgiveness is a gift from thee
We seek with pure intent.
With hands now pledged to do thy work,
We take the sacrament.
~ Hymn #169 (italics added)
I have been thinking a lot about covenants, the promises we make with God, ourselves, and others. What a powerful opportunity! When our hands touch the bread and water we pledge to do all the Lord asks us to do. That is part of the covenant. We are to give our lives to Him. When we do, He will give us the one we want back.
What does it mean to make a covenant? Do we make them and then not follow through? We need to make sure we really intend to follow through. When you give the Lord your life, He will give you the one you want in return. When we covenant with our Heavenly Father there are promises waiting for us.
So what happens when we forget about our covenants? Do we get lost in an abyss? The scriptures tell us time and time again of a God who will forgive, even unto a complete forgetting of what we have done wrong if we will confess it before Him and seek His help to overcome our faults.
In a talk titled "Finding Forgiveness", Elder Richard G. Scott states, "Recently . . . I encountered a large temporary sign declaring Rough Road Ahead, and indeed it was. Had I not been warned, that experience would have been disastrous. Life is like that. It's full of rough spots. Some are tests to make us stronger. Others result from our own disobedience. . . . Each one of us encounters unique challenges meant for growth."
Life is full of rough spots, both expected and unexpected. Living our life with the Spirit will help us to better understand the "road signs" and when the rough patches will come, or how we can navigate them. But when we fall into a rough patch that seems like it has no way out, we need to turn to the Lord. He will help us get back on the road that will lead to a smoother journey.
Elder Scott goes on to say, "The fruit of true repentance is forgiveness, which opens the door to receive all of the covenants and ordinances provided on this earth and to enjoy the resulting blessings. When a repentant soul is baptized, all former sins are forgiven and need not be remembered. When repentance is full and one has been cleansed, there comes a new vision of life and its glorious possibilities. How marvelous the promise of the Lord: 'Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.' The Lord is and ever will be faithful to His words."
Isaiah writes, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).
Recently in my life I have had to work some things out. Forgiveness, both receiving and giving, seem to be a constant. Growing up I lived with a lot of hard feelings and I remember a night not to long ago asking forgiveness from a person in my life. It had an impact on them. It had an impact on me. I left the house feeling like I was walking on air. Lifting that burden from my life helped me to begin to move on.
This new challenge I have encountered has not been as hard as I thought it would be. There are things that happened, experiences, I will never be able to get back. But those are part of the choices we make. I was so hurt when information came to light, and I have become so un-trusting.
There was a point where I thought things had changed, and I put myself back in the line of fire. But it was no different the second time. The serpent is just the same. It may change in appearance, but a serpent is a serpent.
When I got bit the second time around I removed myself immediately and have not looked back. When I saw this person I thought it would be awkward, but I felt liberated. Because I had made the choice to let go, seek forgiveness and move on, I was strengthened by my Heavenly Father.
Does this mean that I loath the person? No. I still care for them like I do any other friend. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Is there someone in your life who perhaps needs forgiveness? Is there someone in your home, someone in your family, someone in your neighborhood who has done an unjust or an unkind or an unchristian thing? All of us are guilty of such transgressions, so there surely must be someone who yet needs your forgiveness."
I have asked forgiveness of this person, I have asked forgiveness of my Heavenly Father. Now I work to put the pieces of my life back together. Each day I feel the tender mercies of the Lord and understand more and more the things He would have me do.
"As we consider the unity required for Zion to flourish, we should ask ourselves if we have overcome jarrings, contentions, envyings, and strifes (see D&C 101:6)" said Elder D. Todd Christofferson. "Are we individually and as a people free from strife and contention and united 'according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom'? (D&C 105:4). Forgiveness of one another is essential to this unity. Jesus said, 'I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men' (D&C 64:10).
"We will become of one heart and one mind as we individually place the Savior at the center of our lives and follow those He has commissioned to lead us"
Elder Lance B. Wickman further added, "It remains . . . for you and me to both seek and tender [the Savior's] forgiveness—to both repent and to extend charity to others—which enables us to pass through the door the Savior holds open, thus to cross the threshold from this life into exaltation. Today is the day to forgive others their trespasses, secure in the knowledge that the Lord will thus forgive ours. As Luke significantly recorded, 'Be ye therefore merciful' (Luke 6:36; emphasis added). Perfection may elude us here, but we can be merciful. And in the end, repenting and forgiving are among God's chief requirements of us."
Today is the day. Let go of whatever is in your life weighing you down like overloaded baggage. Today is the day!
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