65 LDS Quotes On Forgiveness

“What is the remedy? The first thing we must understand is that addictions are so much easier to prevent than to cure. In the Savior’s words, “Suffer none of these things to enter into your heart.” . . . The best defense against addiction is never to start.

“But what of those who find themselves in the grip of addiction? Please know, first of all, that there is hope. Seek help from loved ones, Church leaders, and trained counselors. The Church provides addiction recovery help through local Church leaders, the Internet, and in some areas, LDS Family Services.

“Always remember, with the Savior’s help, you can break free from addiction. It may be a long, difficult path, but the Lord will not give up on you. He loves you. Jesus Christ suffered the Atonement to help you change, to free you from the captivity of sin. The most important thing is to keep trying—sometimes it takes several attempts before people find success. So don’t give up. Don’t lose faith. Keep your heart close to the Lord, and He will give you the power of deliverance. He will make you free.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf | “Are You Sleeping through the Restoration?” LDS General Conference

Topics: Addiction, Forgiveness, Hope

“When we pray, we are not conveying any information to God that he does not already have. Nor, when we confess our sins before him, is it news to him that we have misbehaved. More than we realize, being honest with God in our prayers helps us to be more honest with ourselves.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Topics: Forgiveness, Repentance, Sin

“God would not have commanded us to forgive seventy times seven if he were not prepared to extend the same mathematical generosity.”

Terryl and Fiona Givens | The God Who Weeps

Topics: Forgiveness, Repentance

The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can go home but that—miraculously—we can feel at home there. If Heavenly Father and His Son did not require faith and repentance, then there would be no desire to change.

Think of your friends and family members who have chosen to live without faith and without repentance. They don’t want to change. They are not trying to abandon sin and become comfortable with God. Rather, they are trying to abandon God and become comfortable with sin.

If the Father and the Son did not require covenants and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, then there would be no way to change. We would be left forever with only willpower, with no access to His power. If Heavenly Father and His Son did not require endurance to the end, then there would be no internalization of those changes over time. They would forever be surface and cosmetic rather than sinking inside us and becoming part of us—part of who we are. Put simply, if Jesus didn’t require practice, then we would never become Saints.

Brad Wilcox | His Grace Is Sufficient

Topics: Atonement, Change, Forgiveness, Nature of God, Perfection, Repentance

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

CS Lewis | The Weight of Glory

Topics: Atonement, Christian, Forgiveness

“Do not throw away a man or a woman, old or young. If they commit an evil today and another tomorrow, but wish to be Saints and to be forgiven, do you forgive them, not only seven times, but seventy times seven in a day, if their hearts are fully set to do right. Let us make it a point to pass over their weaknesses and say, “God bless you in trying to be better in time to come,” and act as wise stewards in the kingdom of God.”

Brigham Young | Journal of Discourses, 8:368

Topics: Change, Forgiveness, Repentance

“We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker’s, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ.”

CS Lewis | The Problem of Pain

Topics: Atonement, Forgiveness, Repentance, Sin, Time

“There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me.”

CS Lewis | The Essential C.S. Lewis

Topics: Forgiveness, Repentance, Self-mastery

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Topics: Attitude, Forgiveness

Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the LDS church

“. . . there surely must be someone who yet needs your forgiveness. And please don’t ask if that’s fair – that the injured should have to bear the burden of forgiveness for the offender. Don’t ask if “justice” doesn’t demand that it be the other way around. No, whatever you do, don’t ask for justice. You and I know that what we plead for is mercy – and that is what we must be willing to give.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland | “I Stand All Amazed,” Ensign, August 1986, p. 72

Topics: Forgiveness, Justice, Mercy