Forgiveness

It is so important to forgive others that wrong you. It is not your place to hold grudges. We are all here to learn and to grow. We are not perfect but we can be better when we are willing to try. I love the thought that blame keeps wounds open and only forgiveness heals by President Monson. It is true. If we don't forgive someone then it ends up causing more damage to one self. You can become a mean, bitter person if you are not careful. No one is perfect, that is why we have the Atonement. My goal for forgiveness is to forgive others and also forgive myself when I make a mistake. I need to let go and move on to a brighter future.

"Somehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way."

Gordon B. Hinckley- October 2005 General Conference "Forgiveness" 

"The great Atonement was the supreme act of forgiveness. The magnitude of that Atonement is beyond our ability to completely understand. I know only that it happened, and that it was for me and for you. The suffering was so great, the agony so intense, that none of us can comprehend it when the Savior offered Himself as a ransom for the sins of all mankind." 

Gordon B. Hinckley- October 2005 General Conference "Forgiveness" 

"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."

 Dieter F. Uchtdorf -April 2012 General Conference "The Merciful Obtain Mercy" 

"When our hearts are filled with the love of God, we become “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving.” 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf -April 2012 General Conference "The Merciful Obtain Mercy" 

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). That is a hard thing to ask when we’re hurting or have been offended, are tired or stressed out or suffering innocently. But that is when Christian behavior may matter the most. As Joseph was taught in his prison-temple, even in distress and sorrow we must “let [our] bowels … be full of charity towards all men … ; then [and only then] shall [our] confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and … the Holy Ghost shall be [our] constant companion”

Jeffrey R. Holland, "Lessons from Liberty Jail" Ensign, September 2009

"When anguish comes from evil acts of others, there should be punishment and corrective action taken, but the offended is not the one to initiate that action. Leave it to others who have that responsibility. Learn to forgive; though terribly hard, it will release you and open the way to a newness of life. Time devoted by one injured to ensure the offender is punished is time wasted in the healing process."

Richard G. Scott April 1994 General Conference "To Be Healed" 

"Those who are filled with the love of Christ do not seek to force others to do better; they inspire others to do better, indeed inspire them to the pursuit of God. We need to extend the hand of friendship. We need to be kinder, more gentle, more forgiving, and slower to anger. We need to love one another with the pure love of Christ. May this be our course and our desire."
Howard W. Hunter April 1992 General Conference "A More Excellent Way"

"I would hope that we would strive always to be considerate and to be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings and circumstances of those around us. Let us not demean or belittle. Rather, let us be compassionate and encouraging. We must be careful that we do not destroy another person’s confidence through careless words or actions."

Forgiveness should go hand in hand with love. In our families, as well as with our friends, there can be hurt feelings and disagreements. Again, it doesn’t really matter how small the issue was. It cannot and should not be left to canker, to fester, and ultimately to destroy. Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.
Thomas S. Monson  April 2014 General Conference "Love—the Essence of the Gospel"

“We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember those of others.”

"When we have been hurt, undoubtedly God takes into account what wrongs were done to us and what provocations there are for our resentments, but clearly the more provocation there is and the more excuse we can find for our hurt, all the more reason for us to forgive and be delivered from the destructive hell of such poisonous venom and anger. 12 It is one of those ironies of godhood that in order to find peace, the offended as well as the offender must engage the principle of forgiveness."

Jeffrey R. Holland  October 1996 General Conference “The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom”

"And when God has forgiven us, which He is so eternally anxious to do, may we have the good sense to walk away from those problems, to leave them alone, to let the past bury the past. If one of you has made a mistake, even a serious mistake, but you have done all you can according to the teachings of the Lord and the governance of the Church to confess it and feel sorrow for it and set it as right as can be, then trust in God, walk into His light, and leave those ashes behind you."

Jeffrey R. Holland  October 1996 General Conference “The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom”

“Forgiveness means that problems of the past no longer dictate our destinies, and we can focus on the future with God’s love in our hearts.”

David E. Sorensen (of the Presidency of the Seventy) April 2003 General Conference "Forgiveness Will Change Bitterness to Love"