Forgiveness is real and beautiful. I testify of that. It comes in many shapes and sizes. Sins are great and small. Forgiveness can come from others, or the Lord and ourselves. Forgiveness builds bridges, frees us from sin and helps us move on from labels that once knocked us down. Forgiveness allows change and hope. Sinfulness brings suffering and pain, but the Lord’s forgiveness brings relief, comfort and joy.
For the Lords forgiveness we must:
Have faith on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Sorrow for your sin.
Confession.
Abandonment of Sin.
Restitution.
Righteous living.
We must also forgive others
Jesus Christ suffered the penalty for your sins so you can be forgiven if you sincerely repent. As you repent and rely on His saving grace, you will be cleansed from sin.
Many have asked 1) How do I know when I am forgiven of my sins? and (2) If I am forgiven, why do I still feel guilt?
When asked those questions, Tad R. Callister of the seventy usually responded by saying, “If you feel the Spirit—when you pray, read the scriptures, teach, testify, or at any other time—then that is your witness that you have been forgiven or, alternatively, that the cleansing process is taking place, for the Spirit cannot dwell in an unholy tabernacle” (see Alma 7:21). In most cases the cleansing process takes time because our change of heart takes time, but in the interim, we can proceed with the confidence that God approves of our progress as manifested by the presence of His Spirit. That is the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
The Lord declared the comprehensive cleansing power of the Atonement when He said, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
The time will come when those who repent will no longer be troubled by their sins. Such was the case with Enos, whose “guilt was swept away” (Enos 1:6), and the converted Lamanites, who witnessed that the Lord had “taken away the guilt from our hearts” (Alma 24:10), and with Alma, who exclaimed, “I could remember my pains no more” (Alma 36:19; emphasis added). No doubt all of them remembered their sins, but somehow they were no longer troubled by them. The infinite powers of the Atonement miraculously healed every wound and soothed every conscience with “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
As we repent, we become a different person than we were. We can be comforted by the truth that God will ultimately judge us by what we have become, not by what we were.
The Apostle Paul gave some constructive counsel to all of us who have sinned but are striving to repent. He said we should be “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3:13). In other words, we should put the past behind us and press forward, trusting in God’s redeeming power. Such an effort on our part is a demonstration of faith. Further, Paul counseled, “Happy is he that condemneth not himself” (Romans 14:22).
The promise is certain—if we do our best to repent, we will be cleansed of our sins and our guilt will eventually be swept away.
Along the newly constructed Murdock Canal trail that runs through Utah County, there is some graffiti that states:
“the longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater there power to harm us”
Lets substitute the word misfourtune for transgressions:
The longer we dwell on our transgressions the greater their power to harm us.
Obsessing over our transgressions will become who we are in our minds and then in our actions.
Without doubt, Satan uses this refusal to forgive ourselves as a means of enslaving us by turning past sins into addictions.
Satan tempts others to judge themselves harshly and to believe they don’t deserve to be forgiven, even when the Lord is willing to forgive them. Such individuals continue to dwell on their transgressions and mistakes, remembering the details and thus increasing the danger of repeating them. According to President Boyd K. Packer, “Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior.”
Self-condemnation tends to lead to discouragement which then can lead to addictions. A discouraged individual will be tempted to stop trying or to seek solace in more sin. In contrast, the Savior beckons us forward with the promise that we can become free from the chains of sin as we fully repent and forgive ourselves.
Those who refuse to forgive themselves thus bear a double burden of sin, for not only do they carry the sin itself, but they also add to it the sin of self-condemnation and refusing to forgive. Indeed, refusal to forgive is cited in the scriptures as “the greater sin” (D&C 64:9).
When we turn to our Savior, He can heal us not only of the sin but also of the self-recrimination and the constant mental replaying of our sins or obsessing over them. We must keep sin in its proper perspective. Satan would convince us that we are defined by our sins. We must turn the sins and the guilt over to the Savior in a process of complete repentance. For serious sins we will need the help of a bishop to complete our repentance. We then must let the Savior judge whether we or He must make final payment for the sin. Finally, we will need the Savior’s help to feel self-acceptance rather than self-contempt.
With the Lord’s help, we will experience a change in how we see ourselves.
To receive His help, we need to ask for it. And we need to be willing, given all our mortal limitations and weaknesses, to do all that we can do
“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10; emphasis added). This includes forgiving ourselves.
I have heard a hundred time the saying forgive and forget…
Forgetting is part of forgiving. But forgiving oneself involves a special kind of forgetting. We don’t forget the sin and its effects; rather, the memory ceases to be part of how we see ourselves. For example, when Alma had been forgiven of his sins, he said, “I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more” (Alma 36:19). The fact that he could describe his repentance to his son Helaman showed that a memory was still there. But through Christ’s Atonement and forgiveness, that memory lost its edge of guilt and self-recrimination.
When we sin or make mistakes, our Heavenly Father wants us to quickly resume our journey home with a new and even stronger grip on the iron rod. The repentance of Alma the Younger illustrates this principle of moving on. A “wicked and an idolatrous man” (Mosiah 27:8), he was brought to a realization of his sins, repented, and experienced a mighty change of heart (see Mosiah 27:11–37). He chose to take the strait and narrow path, filling his mind and his life with good works rather than remaining at the side of the road worrying about his past transgressions. He didn’t have time for that. And neither do we.
Can you imagine if Alma the Younger or the sons of Mosiah didn’t forgive themselves for their iniquities? Could they have been the missionaries they were and leaders they were if they were still captive to the sins they committed? These are heros of mine for the very reason that they changed and moved on! They repented! They became something! They accomplished, they loved, they served, they were connected to the gospel and its teachings! They made a huge difference in the world, even to this very day where we read about them!
These thoughts and feelings make me question myself and maybe you could think about yourself as well. Are there sins we haven’t forgiven ourselves for that are holding us back from our potential as sons and daughters of God?
Spencer W. Kimball says in his book Miracle of Forgiveness that “Man is the supreme creation, made in the image and similitude of God and his son Jesus Christ; that man is the offspring of God; that for man, and man alone, was the earth created, organized, planted and made ready for human habitation; and that, having within him the seeds of godhood and thus being a god in embryo, man has unlimited potential for progress and attainment."
You have unlimited potential for progress and attainment.
You are a Child of God. You have worth. You have a mission. You are loved. Your brother, even Jesus Christ, suffered for you and died for you so you can repent and live.
I have a testimony of this. I have a testimony that this is the restored gospel. I know God lives. I know of his mercy and cleansing powers. I have felt them in my own life and I do testify that Happy is he that condemneth not himself. And although it may take time, the freedom that comes from forgiveness from the Lord and forgiving yourself will help you fulfill the purpose you were sent here to do.
...I was asked to speak on this topic in sacrament meeting quite a few months ago. I researched many scriptures and talks found on lds.org. I apologize I didn't give direct references from specific quotes. Much of this talk is direct quotes that rang true. I am simply recording this on my blog for my own reference so I can re read it when I doubt myself or get discouraged, which happens all to often...
