Doc & Cov 64:8 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.
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.
10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.
11 And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds.
Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
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.
It was in a church in Munich that I saw him—a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.
“It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. ‘When we confess our sins,’ I said, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. …’
“The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.
“And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!
[Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.]
“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’
“And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?
“But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
“ ‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’ No, he did not remember me.
“ ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’
“And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
“It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
“For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’
“I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.
“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’
“And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“ ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’
“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then” (Corrie Ten Boom)
I don't know if there is any better example of true forgiveness than forgiving your Nazi guard.
Except forgiving those that beat and crucify you because they know not what they do.
But now I want to talk about the one thing you cannot do while forgiving someone and that is to stand in judgment of them.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." ( Luke 6:38)
To judge negatively is more than just passing judgment it too often becomes rendering a verdict, being more than being judgmental it is being contemptible towards your enemies rather than loving and forgiving them.
"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."
This is, I believe, the directions the words of Christ lead us.
When we assume the worst of others, your family let's say, it wounds you to a degree. When you give them benefit of the doubt then your heart is lightened, the burden is lifted. It is not just they others deserve forgiveness as you do from God, it is that you and those who hurt you deserve the peace forgiveness can bring.
You can stack the scales for or against someone but in the verse above Jesus says that the measure you use towards others God will use that same measure toward you.
The seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew begins with:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”Jesus then says:
“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”The attentive Mormon will know that the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible renders it thusly:
“Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people. Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.”Some mistakenly read this to say "We are commanded to judge everyone we meet and judging people is righteous."
This is false as can plainly be seen for the following reasons: The word for judgment in ancient Greek is krino which can be translated as either "discern" or "pass judgment" or "condemn." And the word for judgment in Hebrew is dan or shafat which can translate the same as the Greek word depending on context.
And the context of Christ's words are that however harshly or favorably you judge others is the same judgment positive or negative that The Lord will judge you by.
The Atonement is not about Jesus judging all of us according to our sins; it is about Him forgiving us our sins that we may be protected from the destruction resulting from them.
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:22)
Raca mean "empty" or "worthless" so they are insults in this context but to say "you fool" is worse because someone who is uninformed can learn but a fool can never learn, a fool is hopeless. The difference here is one of contempt and rather than just render judgment contempt is to pass sentence on them.
Insults by definition are negative judgments. For example; if I like a strong woman I will call her bold and assertive but if I dislike her I might call her arrogant or self-righteous.
Were it not for the carnage and damage that negative judgments and the contempt that follows cause it would alomst be comical the way we judge those we like favorably yet those we dislike we condemn, often for the exact same actions or words.
We can discern sin but according to scripture judgment is reserved for God in the last days, rendering judgment is not for us to take on.
"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:36-38)
The Atonement is forgiveness from God to us, but when we forgive ourselves and others we participate in it, it becomes our gift to others as it was God's gift to us. In it we free not just the opressed but we also free the oppressors as well.
So that all may know the peace that can only come from forgiveness. This is something that is eternal and ongoing; The Atonement is not a fixed point in space and time. It is everywhere always just as Jesus is.
The Everlasting, eternally continuous Atonement is a gift from God to us all, and from each of us one to another which is one of the two commandments Jesus gives for us all to love one another as we love ourselves. It even means loving our enemies. So maybe this gift of The Atonement can help heal all the wounds from negative judgments from anyone close to you over the holiday season, or wounds you may have inflicted.
Merry Christmas.
Peace.
