Forgiveness

LDS Quotes on Forgiveness

Joseph Smith Portrait

“The nearer we get to our Heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls.”

Joseph Smith

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“If the time comes when you have done all that you can to repent of your sins, and have made amends and restitution to the best of your ability; if it be something that will affect your standing in the church and you have gone through the proper authorities, then you will want that confirming answer as to whether or not the Lord has accepted of you. In your soul searching, if you seek for and you find that peace of conscience, by that token you may know that the Lord has accepted your repentance.”

Harold B. Lee  |  “Stand Ye in Holy Places”

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“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Lewis B. Smedes

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Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive,” but then He said, “… of you it is required to forgive all men… May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf  |  The Merciful Obtain Mercy

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Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“In truth, we “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We are all in need of mercy. In that last day when we are called to the judgment bar of God, do we not hope that our many imperfections will be forgiven? Do we not yearn to feel the Savior’s embrace? It seems only right and proper that we extend to others that which we so earnestly desire for ourselves.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf  |  “You Are My Hands”, Ensign May 2010, pp. 68-70, 75

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“The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either — or both — when needed?”

Gordon B. Hinckley  |  Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

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James R. Rasband

Would Alma truly have felt what he describes as ‘exquisite … joy’ if he thought that Christ saved him but left forever harmed those he had led away from the truth? Surely not. For Alma to feel complete peace, those he harmed also needed the opportunity to be made whole.

James R. Rasband  |  Ensuring a Righteous Judgment - General Conference 2020

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“God and Christ are omniscient, and yet the promise is: ‘He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.’ Our Lord is like the mother of Wendell Berry’s poem, whose forgiveness is ‘so complete that I wonder sometimes if it did not precede my wrong.’ He purposely forgives our sins, to extirpate our shame. The act is sublime.”

Terryl and Fiona Givens  |  "The Christ Who Heals"

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Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the LDS church

“Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away. Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever. That is a New Year’s resolution I ask you to keep.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland  |  The Best Is Yet to Be

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“It is reported that President Brigham Young once said that he who takes offense when no offense was intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense was intended is usually a fool.”

Marion D. Hanks  |  Ensign, January 1974, p. 21

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“Forgiveness is a personal attribute, not just a decision we make from time to time when we feel we should. To have a forgiving heart is to see the world in a different light. It is to forsake the tendency to judge, condemn, exclude, or hate any human soul. A forgiving heart seeks to love and to be patient with imperfection. The forgiving heart understands that we are all in need of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

“A forgiving heart is one of the most Christlike virtues we can possess. If we have a forgiving heart, our very nature will be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable. forgiveness plants and nourishes the seeds of Christlike love in both the giver and the receiver. Indeed, forgiveness, in its fullest expression, is synonymous with charity, the pure love of Christ.”

Roderick J. Linton  |  Ensign, April 1993, p. 15

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“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12) really means, “Father, do not forgive me one iota more than I am willing to forgive others.”

Madison U. Sowell  |  “On Measuring Flour and Forgiveness,” Speeches, BYU 1996-97, p. 50

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Richard G. Scott Portrait

“You cannot erase what has been done, but you can forgive. (See D&C 64:10.) Forgiveness heals terrible, tragic wounds, for it allows the love of God to purge your heart and mind of the poison of hate. It cleanses your consciousness of the desire for revenge. It makes place for the purifying, healing, restoring love of the Lord.”

Richard G. Scott  |  Ensign, May 1992, p. 33

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“The remedy for most marital stress is not in divorce. It is in repentance and forgiveness, in sincere expressions of charity and service. It is not in separation. It is in simple integrity that leads a man and a woman to square up their shoulders and meet their obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule, a time-honored principle that should first and foremost find expression in marriage.”

Gordon B. Hinckley  |  Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

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“Is the Lord truly saying that refusing to forgive another is a greater sin than the offense committed against us? Yes. Truman Madsen suggests one reason for this: In refusing to forgive another, we, in effect, attempt to deny the blessings of the Atonement to that person.”

Roderick J. Linton  |  Ensign, April 1993, p. 15

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“Love is the only force that can erase the differences between people or bridge the chasms of bitterness.”

Gordon B. Hinckley  |  Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

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“I can forgive but I cannot forget is another way of saying I cannot forgive.”

Henry Ward Beecher

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