Stake Conference
April 13,2024
Forgiveness
At the end of the war upon returning home, Louie is haunted by the memories and the trauma he had experienced. As he becomes obsessed with finding his captors and somehow finding retribution for their actions he spirals into a deep depression. Recurring nightmares opens his emotional wounds. To cope with his feelings, he turns to alcohol which further damages his ability to confront his feelings and emotions. He had married and now his wife was ready to end the marriage because of the problems that his alcoholism had introduced into their life. Finally, she convinces Louie to go to a spiritual revival tent meeting where a young energetic preacher named Billy Graham was preaching. Angry at what the young preacher said and mad at God for the injustices he had experienced, Louie vowed never to return.
His wife eventually persuades him to try one more time. At this meeting, Louie has a profound spiritual experience. He recalled with great clarity conversations he had had with God during his captivity and realized that he had experienced many miracles, been spared numerous times and that he owed God a great debt of gratitude. He returned home that night, threw away his alcohol, cigarettes, and pornography and never turned back.
Somehow in that meeting, Louie had allowed the healing power of the Savior to enter his heart. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, he was able to completely abandon his habits and turn his full attention to the things of Christ.
Louie eventually traveled to Japan and met many of his captors who were now in prison for war crimes. As he looked out over the faces of those that had been so cruel he said he felt compassion and forgiveness. Beautiful, effortless, and complete.
As I read his account I was amazed at how quickly and completely he had been able to change his thoughts, attitudes, and even physical addictions. The healing of our Savior can be quick. It is always complete.
Many have been hurt by the actions of others, whether their actions were intentional or not. We cannot control the agency of others, but we can control our agency and how we choose to act. Harboring anger, hatred, or resentment against others is Satan’s way of denying us the comforting power of the Holy Ghost and the healing power of Jesus Christ.
Forgiving others is an act of extreme humility. We must set aside our pride and expectations of retribution or retaliation. We must set aside our limited, human perception of fairness and justice. We must accept our Savior’s atonement and have faith that we can be healed and that His justice is infinite and complete.
Is there someone you know that you need to forgive? As we exercise humility we are becoming more like our Savior. Becoming more like our Savior is the reason we are here on earth. Maybe one of the most poignant examples of humility and forgiveness is when our Savior is hanging on the cross. He asked his Father to forgive those who had tortured and crucified him because they knew not what they did.
But!, you say, so-and-so knew exactly what they were doing, and I can never forgive them. How can you be certain what exactly they knew? How can you be certain of the intent? How can you be certain of their capacity for empathy and understanding? I believe that part of the humility involved in forgiveness is knowing that God perfectly understands his children and that ultimately perfect justice will be served.
Forgiving another involves turning over to God the things that are God’s. Our time here on earth is short. Daily repentance helps to become more like the Savior. Each day we want to grow closer to Him so that we can return to His presence and enjoy eternal life and exaltation.
One of the very first things that Christ taught the people of the Book of Mormon when he appeared to them was to avoid contention.
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away. (3 Nephi 11: 29-30)
As you look at the world around us, you can see what happens when people let their hearts get stirred up with anger. People say things they later regret. They act in ways that can have lasting negative consequences. Each successive action or comment must validate the previous in a never-ending downward spiral.
Now, it is important to remember that forgiving one of their actions is not the same as condoning their actions. Sometimes we feel that in order to forgive someone that we have to somehow justify that their actions were acceptable. This is never the case. Those who are victims of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse should never feel that the abuse was justified. Others will be held accountable for the exercise of their agency. We can and should remove ourselves from abusive relationships for our own protection. Forgiving those who have been abusive is about cleansing our hearts of anger and all things that offend the Spirit. It is about turning our thoughts to the Savior and trusting that in the end, all will be made right through the Atonement.
We all have our heroes of the scriptures, both ancient and modern. As I read the Book of Mormon, I love those prophets that wrote upon the plates. As I study early church history, I grow to love Joseph Smith even more. As I listen to General Conference I love modern-day prophets. When people ask me what my favorite scripture is or my favorite prophet, it is usually one that I have recently read. At this point is our “Come, Follow Me” study I have an even deeper admiration for Nephi. Here is a man that on more than one occasion frankly forgave his brothers for their actions against him. He struggled to keep his family together in the wilderness, even when his own parents murmured. He struggled to get everyone safely to the Promised Land. And despite all his struggles his family eventually broke apart and he had to flee for his life. But at the end of a very difficult and tumultuous life he leaves us with these comforting words:
…We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. (2 Nephi 25:26)
Remember that daily repentance is looking for a remission of our sins. It is a lifelong process, and we know that it is through Christ that we can do all things.
I am grateful for my faith in and testimony of God, the Eternal Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost. My faith and testimony are strengthened continually as I try to serve them. The more I learn about our Savior and His infinite and eternal atonement, the more I learn how much I don’t know. I have experienced this with other things in my life. The more I learn about something, the more I realize what I still don’t know and have yet to learn.
And then there is just trying to keep a firm grasp on those things I have learned. Over the past couple of weeks, I have had some sleepless nights. I laid awake at night worrying about conflicting priorities in my life. There is no harder decision than trying to decide between two very worthwhile things. I prayed to ask our Heavenly Father to help me know what to do. I got myself quite worked up and, in the end, Heavenly Father helped things to fall into place in such a way that I was able to do both things and didn’t have to decide between one or the other. I see his hand in my life. I see him blessing me and helping things to work out. So why do I still end up spending sleepless nights worrying about things? I still need to develop more faith that Heavenly Father is even in the details of our life. I am grateful for the experiences I have that teach me this. It is such a blessing to be with you, to feel your spirit, and know that I am among true disciples of Christ. I thank you and leave you my love, ITNOJC,A .
