Quotes About Forgiveness

Imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. This must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it.

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

In seeking true peace some of us need to improve what has to be improved, confess what needs to be confessed, forgive what needs to be forgiven, and forget what should be be forgotten in order that serenity can come to us.

He has, He reminds us, "graven thee upon the palms of my hands" (1 Nephi 21:16). Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion, Christ is not going to turn His back on us now.

The "good news" was that death and hell could be escaped, that mistakes and sins could be overcome, that there was hope, that there was help, that the insoluble was solved, that the enemy had been conquered. The good news was that everyone's tomb could one day be empty, that everyone's soul could again be pure, that every child of God could again return to the Father who gave them life.

Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don't keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, "Hey! Do you remember this?" Splat!

The world around us is an increasingly hostile and sinful place. Occasionally that splashes onto us, and perhaps, in the case of a few of you, it may be nearly drowning you. To anyone struggling under the burden of sin, I say again with the Prophet Joseph that God has 'a forgiving disposition' (Lectures on Faith, 42). You can change. You can be helped. You can be made whole—whatever the problem.

I don't know what things may be troubling you personally, but, even knowing how terrific you are and how faithfully you are living, I would be surprised if someone somewhere weren't troubled by a transgression or the temptation of transgression. To you, wherever you may be, I say, Come unto him and lay down your burden. Let him lift the load. Let him give peace to your soul. Nothing in this world is more burdensome than sin—it is the heaviest cross men and women ever bear.

Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve… If something is buried in the past, leave it buried.

Then I had the comforting idea that my first thought wasn't as painful as it sounded. However frightening it may be to realize that all of us have sinned, however frightening it may be to contemplate a just God, surely it is infinitely more frightening to contemplate an unjust God. A basic principle of Latter-day Saint doctrine is that in order to go forward, we have to know that God is just.

How grateful I was that, in addition to being just, God is able to be merciful also.

Nothing in this world is more burdensome than sin—it is the heaviest cross men and women ever bear.

Surely each of us could sight an endless array of old scars and sorrows and painful memories that at this very moment still corrode the peace of someone's heart…

It is not unreasonable to want repentance from a wrongdoer before forgiving that wrongdoer, since, in the absence of repentance, hasty forgiveness may harm both the forgiver and the wrongdoer. The forgiver may be harmed by a failure to show self-respect. The wrongdoer may be harmed by being deprived of an important incentive - the desire to be forgiven - that could move him toward repentance and moral rebirth.

I'm a teenager, and we mess up sometimes.

What's happened has happened. You can't change the past. All you can do is work on making a brighter future.

who all are former villains. How do you like them poison apples?

There's no point rehashing how we all got here. What's done is done.

Unattended hurt, anger, and bitterness can destroy even the best marriage. Lean honestly into every hard place, each tender spot, because truthfulness hurts for a minute but silence is the kill shot.

Loved people love people. Forgiven people forgive people. Adored people adore people. Freed people free people. But when we are still locked in our own prisons, it is impossible to crave the liberation of others. Misery prefers company.

nothing hurts worse or steals more joy than broken relationships. We can heal and hurt each other, and we do.

Henri Nouwen wrote: "Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.

The Holy Spirit is an incredible leader and healer. Don't shove it down; lay your junk on the table and deal with it. Address the stuff. Forgive, release, acknowledge, confront, feel the feelings, let something go, believe the truth, whatever you need to do. Then dust your hands off and get ready to go.

At family gatherings where you suddenly feel homicidal or suicidal, remember that in half of all cases, it's a miracle that this annoying person even lived. Earth is Forgiveness School. You might as well start at the dinner table. That way, you can do this work in comfortable pants.1 — ANNE LAMOTT