The color/highlighted sections and words are simply a color code to guide me through important points or 'where I am in the lesson' points
A. Why
do humans want justice so much? Is it
innate? Is it just a canal nature? (This
is a trick question.) (I feel like Bro Nixon, I rarely ask a question for which
I’ve not already imagined an answer.)
I believe it is part of OUR DIVINE
NATURE that senses that justice is required to keep all things in existence
balanced, that justice is divine, and that God demands justice.
If we are led by the Spirit of
Christ, we also feel the divine nature of mercy, and we combine the two.
If we are not led by the Spirit of
Christ, we hold on to the idea of justice and we may be led down the path of
desiring revenge. Revenge is the Satanic
version of justice.
3 There are those among you who have sinned; but
verily I say, for this once, for mine own glory, and for the salvation of
souls, I have forgiven you your sins.
5 And the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom shall
not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., through the means I have
appointed, while he liveth, inasmuch as he obeyeth mine ordinances.
7 Nevertheless, he has sinned; but verily I say unto
you, I, the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and
ask forgiveness, who have not sinned unto death.
8 My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion
against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this
evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.
9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive
one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth
condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.
11 And ye ought
to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee
according to thy deeds.
Verse 11: And
ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward
thee according to thy deeds.
I
have known others, and have felt myself, that this verse means: OK. I’ll let God judge. And you’ll be sorry. You’ll get your punishment. You just wait and see. You’ll be sorry! Your’re gonna get it!
That is not what it is supposed
to mean.
So, I want to spend a minute and break down the forgiving
response to the sense of #3 justice when we take into account #5a(accident,
ignorance, apologetic, intentional), our understanding of other’s motives.
a.
Accidental
: easy to forgive – they didn’t mean to
do it.---Easy
b.
Ignorance: Same as ‘a.’
They didn’t understand the impact their actions would have. --Easy
c.
If
they say they are sorry and change:
Easy But what if:
d.
Intentional
or they don’t say they are sorry and they don’t regret it nor change: much harder.
Reemphasize:
To forgive is not to condone. We do not rationalize bad behavior or allow
others to mistreat us because of their struggles or pains or weaknesses.
3 stories:
i.
forgive the correct person for the correct thing.
In an important project I did I had an associate who
was always whining and complaining about how things were done. So I ended up changing things to satisfy her
or him (this anonymous person). The
project went into disaster.
I was upset because the changes I instituted from
their pressure – I was having a hard time forgiving them for that.
I couldn’t forgive myself letting them nag me.
Then I realized I was trying to forgive the wrong
person for the wrong thing.
I had no control over their whining. So I could not forgive myself for that. I had to forgive them for that.
They didn’t make the decisions about the changes in project. That was me. So it was impossible to forgive
them. It wasn’t their decision. It was my decision. I was accountable for that. I had to forgive myself.
Once I realized who was accountable for which part of
my frustration, forgiveness was instantaneous.
ii.
We
can’t justify our ill behavior because theirs is worse:
I
was counseling with a couple of patients as they went through difficult
marriage issues. One had a husband who
looked good on the outside, but was critical, demeaning, and selfish in their
private life-but nothing so blatant that you could say ‘he is evil’. The other had a husband who was the same way
to the public eye, but who was also addicted to online shopping, pornography,
and having routing non-sexual but heart committed rendezvous with another
woman.
The first woman made a statement to the effect that at least the second woman could be justified in blaming her husband for all their problems and hating her husband because he was doing some obvious evil things.
She stunned me when she replied, “Oh no! The Lord won’t let me get away with that!” Meaning, he doesn’t justify her harboring anger and resentment. He expected her to purify her soul as well.
The first woman made a statement to the effect that at least the second woman could be justified in blaming her husband for all their problems and hating her husband because he was doing some obvious evil things.
She stunned me when she replied, “Oh no! The Lord won’t let me get away with that!” Meaning, he doesn’t justify her harboring anger and resentment. He expected her to purify her soul as well.
iii.
Story
3. This is my main point. I have
had experiences where it was intentional and very painful. They felt justified. I felt they weren’t. That I struggled with. Then I was pondering the book of Enos. This is when I learned how to forgive (in 3
easy steps. Really.)
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my
Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own
soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I
did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos,
thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I,
Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
THIS IS STEP ONE:
GOD CANNOT LIE
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in
Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before
he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made
thee whole.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words
I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites;
wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.
10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit,
behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my
commandments. I have given unto them
this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause
of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and
their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.
THIS IS STEP TWO:
GOD IS FAIR if
they are righteous, he will bless them; if they are not, he will bring them
sorrow
11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my
faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long
strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed
and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy
faith.
13 And now behold,
this was the desire which I desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites,
should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the
Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of
my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that
it (the record) might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that,
perhaps, they might be brought unto
salvation—
14 For
at the present our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith.
And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would destroy our
records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.
NOTE: These are not strangers, boogie men, or the
Communist Russians or an Islamic Terrorist, or a masked robber. These are Enos’ cousins, . . .the children of
his uncles, Laman and Lemuel. They knew
each other.
15 Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God
was able to preserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said
unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall
receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.
16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God
that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring
them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.
17 And
I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made;
wherefore my soul did rest.
THIS
IS STEP THREE: GOD IS MERCIFUL
So, if
1. I know God CANNOT lie (not just will not, but
can not – just like I CANNOT turn into a girraffe), and
2.
I know he will be fair (if they don’t repent fully, they won’t get away with
it, and he will know how thoroughly they repent and change), and also
3.
He will be merciful to those who do repent
AND SO
I
can give to him now,
before the judgement day, the decision making process of trying to
figure out if someone has repented enough or not, and do they merit forgiveness.
(letter ‘c’ above) be
clear-it is his domain ONLY; but in my heart, it is mine to make sense of it, because
of our DIVINE NATURE that desires justice. So, now I can beFORE the judgement day,
GIVE to him the decision
making process.
I
can beFORe-GIVE it to him – I can “FOR-GIVE”.
I
don’t have to figure it out. He is able
to, and he will. I am free. My soul can
rest, because God cannot lie, his is fair, and he is merciful.
(Summary
Point) It is the purpose of
Christ
Elder Duncan says,
Forgiveness is the very
reason God sent his Son… We do not need to be a victim twice.
We are a
victim the 1st time from the impact of others’ behavior.
We are a
victim the 2nd time from the result of our unrepentant (therefore
unforgiving attitude) causing our inability to receive the sanctification of
the Savior’s atonement.
I am so grateful for the Savior’s
atonement, the direction of the Holy Ghost, and for being able to repent,
forgive, and be forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
