[live together in love]

 

I was rereading Elder Holland's talk "The Ministry of Reconciliation" from October 2018 General Conference to prepare for my upcoming Sunday School lesson on Doctrine & Covenants 64-66. Such a powerful talk about forgiving and healing.

Forgiving others doesn't mean that we continue in an abusive relationship, etc. It just means that we acknowledge that every single person on earth is imperfect, will make mistakes, and needs mercy and forgiveness. Let God be the Judge as He is Omniscience. He knows how to judge righteously, perfectly. He knows our hearts. He is the only one who knows how responsible we are for our actions. We just don't know the whole story. What if Hitler had some sort of brain damage that made him the way he is? A simple hard blow to the head can do that. We don't know what makes a person the way they are. We just don't.

Let God judge.

Over and over again in the scriptures, we are told that God is merciful. That gives me hope as I need mercy. I mess up all the time despite my best intentions. 

If we want mercy, we need to be merciful.

When you can love the sinners yet not condone the sin, you feel a weight lifted off your soul. Love will flood into your heart.

It's not easy to forgive sometimes. We can ask for God's help when forgiveness is beyond our ability.

Elder Holland:

"He (Jesus Christ) did not say, "You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another." Nor did He say, "In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance".

But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.” 

"The Healer of every wound, He who rights every wrong, asks us to labor with Him in the daunting task of peacemaking in a world that won’t find it any other way."

"...I ask us to be peacemakers—to love peace, to seek peace, to create peace, to cherish peace. I make that appeal in the name of the Prince of Peace, who knows everything about being “wounded in the house of [His] friends” but who still found the strength to forgive and forget—and to heal—and be happy."

For my youth Sunday School, I made 3" peace dove badges for everyone and "quote collage" scripture bookmarks. 

I basically just printed it all on cardstock and I happen to have a 3" circle cutter so that was perfect. 

I printed instructions on how to fold a paper crane as the white dove is one of the symbols of peace. (I know cranes are not doves but close enough. :) In Japan, paper cranes are peace symbols.) When Jesus was baptized, a dove descended on Him, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, PEACE...

I will give all this plus some origami paper to my class one week prior to our class with a homework assignment that they need to immediately forgive someone who "sins against them" that week. Each time they choose to forgive instead of getting mad, they can make a paper crane to remind them of how they brought peace to the world. 

In class, we'll have a discussion on forgiveness and peace and hopefully, they'll have a personal experience to share with the class.

[an amazing man!]

I absolutely, completely, totally love this talk by Elder Holland! 
(click the link to read the talk)

Elder Holland is one my most favorite people on earth. I love him so dearly even though I have never met him. He has taught me so much! I love how humble he is. He is always willing to share his "I'm not perfect" moments for our edification. Look how far he has come! He wasn't an Apostle when he gave this talk (he was ordained as an Apostle in 1994) but he was one in the making. I couldn't imagine a more caring, loving, kind person. I can picture the Savior in my mind when I think of him.

Maybe I should start an Elder Holland Fan Club...

Love him!

[another great book]

Yes, I often have multiple books on the go. :)

This book has a chapter on 52 questions in the Book of Mormon. I was reading about the question "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" last night and I like what it says about how sometimes when we ask God something, He doesn't give a "yes" or "no" answer but kind of leaves us to figure it out on our own. Here's a quote from the book:

"But what about a yellow light? What about when we pray and do not receive a clear "yes" or "no"? We may receive a "maybe" answer - or no response at all. Does that mean the Lord doesn't care about us or that the question we are struggling with is not important enough for Him to guide us? Although we often interpret "yellow light" answers [versus red or green light] in this way, those may not be the messages God intends. Instead of viewing a yellow light answer as evidence that God is distant and doesn't care about us or our concerns, one possibility is that we may view it as evidence that God trusts us. We've made good decisions before, and He knows we can make good decisions again. Other possibilities are that perhaps the Lord wants us to gather more information or that the timing is not right.

Elder John H. Groberg taught, "Because the Lord knows we need the growth, He generally does not point out the clear direction. But if a decision is wrong, He will let us know - we will feel it for sure. I am positive of that. So rather than saying, 'I will not move until I have this burning in my heart,' let us turn it around and say, 'I will move unless I feel it is wrong.'"

Here are couple more quotes from the "Soft-Spoken Parent" book:

[omit anger from your life]

I have only read one chapter of this book so far but I can already tell this will be one of my favorite books ever. 

As parents, we often justify our angry outbursts towards our children when they aren't listening or if they aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing.

But anger does NOT help our children to respond positively and it really is just a destructive way to force our children to "do what they are told".

There is a much better way and this book shows you how.

The gospel way is ALWAYS the best way. Always.

Here is just one quote to start with but I'm sure I will be sharing many more in the future.

"Experience teaches me that when I have been angry, I am quite sure I did not have the Holy Ghost, and I was not in any proper condition to administer reproof. It took me quite a long while to learn that. When I became excited, fanatical, and over-zealous, I mistakenly thought it was the Spirit of the Lord, but have learned better, as the Holy Ghost does not operate that way. My testimony is that the internal fruits of the Holy Ghost are joy, peace, patience, long suffering, and kindness."

J. Golden Kimball

One more: