Christ is the Reason

I. Duty to Forgive

a. D&C 64: 8-10 “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. 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. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”

i. What is the greater sin? Un-forgiveness is a greater sin than what ever you are mad about.

ii. Matt. 6:14-15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

b. Matt 18:23-15 (Parable of King and Servants): “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.”

i. What is the debt we owe? Not only the forgiveness that we receive (see Mosiah 2:21-22).

c. Matt 7:1-2 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

d. Other Scriptural Accounts:

i. Genesis 37–45 (The story of Joseph and his brothers.)

ii. Leviticus 19:17–18 (Do not hate your brother.)

iii. Matthew 5:44 (Love your enemies.)

iv. Matthew 6:12, 14–15 (Forgive men their trespasses.)

v. Matthew 18:21–22 (Forgive seventy times seven.)

II. Can we forgive but not forget?

a. Hebrews 8:12 (The Lord will remember your sins no more.)

b. Doctrine and Covenants 58:42–43 (The Lord will forgive and forget.)

c. Moroni 7:8 “For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.”

d. Henry Ward Beecher expressed the thought this way: “I can forgive but I cannot forget is another way of saying I cannot forgive.”

III. What if they don’t ask us for forgiveness?

a. Personal experience.

b. Michael Wilcox

c. “A common error is the idea that the offender must apologize and humble himself to the dust before forgiveness is required. Certainly, the one who does the injury should totally make his adjustment, but as for the offended one, he must forgive the offender regardless of the attitude of the other.” – Spencer W. Kimball

IV. What Do We Get Out of Forgiveness

a. Eph. 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

b. D&C 42:88 “And if thy brother or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or her and thee alone; and if he or she confess thou shalt be reconciled.”

c. Dr. Sidney Simon, a recognized authority on values realization, has provided an excellent definition of forgiveness as it applies to human relationships: “Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.”