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| The Commandment to Forgive |
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As with all gospel principles, however, God already embodies that principle perfectly. Even in the case of forgiveness, while we are vitally interested in receiving it God requires that we be anxiously engaged in providing it. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord instructed his people how they should treat each other: Leviticus 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down [as] a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of they neighbour: I [am] the LORD. Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt note hate they brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself: I [am] the LORD. Notice the very human emotions about which we are counseled. We are counseled against grudges, hate, and vengeance. For each of these quite human emotions, we understand (even without being told) that they have some precedence. We bear a grudge because of something we think has been done to us. We hate because of something another has done. The very word avenge requires that there is something which we might construe as just cause for our actions. In each of those cases, the Lord tells us to swallow our pride, and forgive, in spite of the fact that there might be provocation. Our duty is not to react to the evil around us, but to return good. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is principle of forgiveness, not the miracle of forgiveness. It is a miracle that we are forgiven. It is a commandment that we forgive. Peter asked the Lord: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but Until seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22). Peter understood the need to forgive, and supplies a number of times. It is interesting that he chooses seven. Seven is a sacred number in the Old and New Testaments. It is the number of the days of the week, and as that was a completion of the Lord's work, might be seen as a number symbolizing perfection or completion. Peter in essence attempts to couch his forgiveness in a "perfect" number. Christ merely emphasizes the lesson, by expanding that perfection by another seventy, or another factor of perfection. The lesson is clear. In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord make this requirement as clear as possible: "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men" (D&C 64:10). The inescapable commandment is that we are to forgive, but why? Some light is shed on this by the scriptures which indicate that there is a penalty attached to our unforgiving. James tells use: "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door" (James 5:9). Our lack of forgiving can condemn us. Matthew is more direct on the relationship of our forgiving, and our receiving forgiveness: "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" (Matthew 6:14-15). There is some kind of direct relationship between our forgiving, and our being forgive. In some part, that relationship comes from a concept of equity and fairness. Recall the parable of the man who was forgiven a large debt, who subsequently refused to forgive smaller debts owed to him (Matthew 18:23-35). The master who had originally forgiven the greater debt derides the unmerciful debtor: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Matthew 18:33-35). There is a certain sense of injustice in forgiving one who will not forgive, and certainly that is a part of the requirement that we be forgivers. However, God just, in His Mercy, forgive us for so much, that there is no way in which we can merit such a miraculous forgiveness. Our forgiving can in no wise earn the forgiveness of God. It that is the case, then why is it so critical that we forgive? Two similar passages from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants provide the clue: Mosiah 26:31"And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor's trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation." D&C 64:9 "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." In each of these passages, the Lord tells us that we suffer a penalty directly for refusing to forgive. It is our problem. To see how this is so, let's examine a situation where there is conflict between two people, an offender and an offended. For the offender, what are the eternal ramifications of his offense? They are proportionate to the offense. Does the eternal consequence for the offender have anything to do with the offended? No. It is his own actions which condemn him, not the anger, hatred, or vengeance of the offended. For the offended, what happens to this person? Let's take an extreme example. Suppose that the offender does something terrible to the offended, but the offended doesn't know it. Suppose they have no understanding that the offense was committed. What is the eternal effect on the offended? Nothing. Let us now suppose that the offended does actually take offense. In whom is the eternal harm? In the offended! We are required to forgive, because not doing so can eternally damage us! The welling of hatred is antithetical to the love of God. The harboring of grudges precludes our increasing in neighborly love. Our vengeance precludes our ability to learn mercy. Everything about not forgiving causes emotions to live in our hearts which hinder the Spirit of god. In a very real way we are forgiven as we learn to forgive, for by so doing, we open ourselves to the influence of the Spirit. When the unforgiving emotions clutch us, we place a barrier between ourselves and the Spirit, and the benefits of God's merciful forgiveness are temporarily unavailable to us. Not forgiving directly hurts us, not the person whom we feel has offended us. "And ye ought to say in your hearts-- let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds" (D&C 64:11). |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
Once we have repented,
we fully expect that the Lord will forgive us. Without the guarantee of unqualified forgiveness as a consequence
of our true repentance, there is little hope in this life or this effort. Forgiveness on the part of the Lord is
sure, and is only predicated upon our sincere repentance. This miracle of forgiveness, as Spencer W. Kimball termed
it, is the eternal assurance that we are capable of achieving the end of the path to perfection.|
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