VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE Divine Attributes of Jesus Christ: Forgiving and Merciful
(Prayerfully
study this material and seek to know what to share. How will understanding the
life and roles of the Savior increase your faith in Him and bless those you
watch over through visiting teaching? For more information, go to reliefsociety.lds.org.)
Faith, Family,
Relief
This is
part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring divine attributes of
the Savior.
Understanding
that Jesus Christ has
been forgiving and merciful to us can help us forgive and extend mercy to
others. “Jesus Christ is our Exemplar,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “His life was a legacy of love.
The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end
the angry mob took His life. And yet there rings from Golgotha’s hill the
words: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’—a crowning
expression in mortality of compassion and love.”1
If we
forgive others their trespasses, our Heavenly Father will also forgive us.
Jesus asks us to “be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). “Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions,” said
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First
Presidency. “We must repent. … Haven’t we all, at one time or another, meekly
approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace? Haven’t we wished with all the
energy of our souls for mercy—to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and
the sins we have committed? … Allow Christ’s Atonement to change and heal your
heart. Love one another. Forgive one another.”2
Additional
Scriptures
From the
Scriptures
“We are
to forgive even as we are forgiven,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.3 The story of the prodigal son shows us both
sides of forgiveness:
one son is forgiven and the other son struggles to forgive.
The
younger son took his inheritance, quickly spent it, and when a famine arose, he
worked feeding swine. The scriptures say “when he came to himself,” he returned
home and said to his father he was not worthy to be his son. But his father
forgave him and killed a fatted calf for a feast. The older son returned from
working in the fields and became angry. He reminded his father that he had
served many years, never transgressed the commandments, yet “thou never gavest
me a kid, that I might make merry.” The father replied, “Son, thou art ever
with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry,
and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost,
and is found” (see Luke 15:11–32).
Consider This
How can forgiveness benefit the one forgiving?
“Forgiving
is Forgetting”
cji
7/1/15
‘Go and
sin no more’
gives us
reason to be
found
same as our Savior
forgiving
and forgetting
including
a self-repentant
keeping
Commandments
continuing
in the vineyard
serving
with willingness
merciful
onto all others
forgiving
is forgetting!
Copyright © 2015 – cji
No comments:
Post a Comment