Man, life has put me in a blender and pressed the “on” button. That being said, I am actually doing fairly well. I have just struggled to keep up with everything.
One of the things that has fallen behind is my blog. I started “A Perfect Love” forever ago, and it’s still only halfway done. Whoops!
Nevertheless, I figured that although I am not done with that post, I can still write a different entry.
Here we are!
I work at a residential facility at the moment, and I work grave shifts. This just means I work from 12am to 6am.
One of my main responsibilities is to clean while the clients are asleep.
As I was sweeping and mopping tonight, I put an earbud in and listened to a couple conference talks.
I do not have a rhyme or reason for picking conference talks to listen to. In fact, I click on “General Conference,” randomly tap a year or group of years, click again (this time choosing a specific year and month), and then randomly scroll to choose a talk to listen to.
Tonight I ended up in April of 2016’s General Conference session.
The two talks I listened to were:
The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness
Though I loved both and gained insight from both, the second one stood out to me.
The interesting thing is that it did not particularly stand out to me until I thought about what I wanted to share with a loved one (or two).
As I pushed the share button, a selection of contacts appeared.
One of the contacts on my screen drew my eye, and I knew that the message I was preparing in my head was for them.
After writing (quite a long) message for them and pairing it with a quote from the talk, I decided that it is actually a message I want to share with everyone.
It’s a principle. Specifically, it’s a principle of healing.
Kevin R. Duncan said, “Forgiveness is a glorious, healing principle. We do not need to be a victim twice. We can forgive.”
I think we often associate forgiveness with negativity and shame. We think that something is wrong with us if we cannot forgive. That forgiveness means we are bad. That forgiveness condones the actions others have committed against us.
The truth is quite the opposite. The truth is that forgiveness is healing.
He does not explicitly state it, but the truth is that holding grudges and not forgiving is heavy, difficult, and painful. It is not light and it is not joyous.
You have probably heard the infamous saying, “Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
Or maybe this quote is recognizable to you, “Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
Many people admit that anger, resentment, and bitterness are not good for the soul. This is probably why Kevin R. Duncan does not specifically state that a lack of forgiveness often is painful.
Instead, I love that he says, “We do not need to be a victim twice.”
And it’s true. Holding onto that hurt because it feels like the only way to get justice or the only way to make things fair is simply a lie that Satan tells us to keep us from healing.
I’m not telling you that you have to allow or condone what the individual has done and may still be doing. I’m simply stating that you deserve better than the pain that it is causing you.
During my Sunday school lesson recently, I shared this quote by Elder Renlund: “In the eternities, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will resolve all unfairness. We understandably want to know how and when. How are They going to do that? When are They going to do it? To my knowledge, They have not revealed how or when. What I do know is that They will” (Renlund, 2021).
This quote will forever bring me comfort.
An apostle of the Lord said very clearly that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will make it right. All will be made right.
In addition, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin stated: “The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss…Every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.”
Hold up.
What?!
Our tears of sadness will be returned with tears of rejoicing and gratitude?
That is a pretty hefty promise.
But, somehow, I believe it.
While we wait for that glorious and joyous day, the day when the promise will be fulfilled and our tears will be those of joy, let us do our part to heal today.
Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can heal, and we may not have to wait til He comes again in the flesh.
To heal, we can employ the healing principle. This is the principle of forgiveness.
Kevin R. Duncan said, “Forgiveness is the very reason God sent His Son, so let us rejoice in His offering to heal us all. The Savior’s Atonement is not just for those who need to repent; it is also for those who need to forgive.”
If you know me, you know that I tend to reword things to make them more meaningful to me.
In this case, let’s say that “forgive” equals “heal.”
That’s what the healing principle is, right? The principle of forgiveness?
So it makes sense that forgive could mean “heal.”
Keeping this in mind, let’s read this quote again: “The Savior’s Atonement is not just for those who need to repent; it is also for those who need to heal.”
For me, it changes the meaning of the quote, but essentially, this is what he is saying. He is saying that through Jesus Christ’s Atonement, those who need to be healed can be.
They will be.
He promised us.
Forgiveness is probably not what you think it is. It is not shoving the hurt down, ignoring the pain and pretending it does not exist.
Forgiveness is the healing principle.
It is the principle of peace.
And it comes from the Prince of Peace.
Telling you to forgive, encouraging you to forgive, is one thing. I know it is much harder than simply agreeing and understanding that forgiveness is something we are asked to do.
My goal, however, is not to teach you how to forgive. The “how” of forgiveness seems to be different for every person.
My purpose is to express to you that forgiveness is important.
Forgiveness is essential.
Forgiveness is life-changing.
Forgiveness is peace.
Forgiveness is healing.
And I don’t know about you, but I need a little bit of healing in my life.
I think we all do.
What better way to heal than to implement the healing principle.
Joy, peace, and rejoicing are ahead.
Patrick Kearon said, “You are a survivor, you can heal, and you can trust that with the power and grace of Jesus Christ, you will overcome and conquer.”
Let’s overcome.
Let’s conquer.
Let’s forgive.
I love this Kyra, like I think I’ve learned more about how to heal myself because of this. My perspective of forgiveness is so much easier to understand because of this and I can now understand how to implement it in my life! I just love this a you so much thank you! 💕