Defining Self-Forgiveness.
"Behold ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost." D&C 50:40-42
This chapter defines the significant difference between sin and weakness. Because knowing the difference makes all the difference in how we understand the Atonement and how to live in peace.
My fav passages:
*talking about the Power of the Atonement,Boyd K. Packer 11/95 Gen. Conf:
"Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ.
When your desire is firm and you are willing to pay the "uttermost farthing", the law of restitution is suspended. Your obligation is transferred to the Lord. He will settle your accounts.
I repeat, save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted form the promise of complete forgiveness. This is the promise of the atonement of Christ."
* Excessive self-blame is as problematic as insufficient self-blame because excessive self blame tempts us to give up on ourselves. It reduces us to the lowest common denominator of our most despicable moments.
*We can fail ourselves or others out of either sin or weakness. The distinction between the two is very important b/c sin and weakness have entirely different authors....Satan is the author of Sin...which is described in the scriptures as willful disobedience or rebellion. Weakness can lead to sin, but weakness in itself is not sin. In fact, God is the author of human weakness. We are weak by design, as part of the mortal experience. We are to come to God & prayerfully ask Him to show us our weakness...then humble ourselves and seek God's grace.
*Sin requires us to do an about-face and return to God, while weakness calls for gradual improvement as we learn and grow. We can be weak and still have our heart in the right place with God.
* Forgiveness helps us overcome the effects of sin; grace helps us to do good despite our human weakness.
*God reproves us when we sin but comforts, relieves, and helps us in our weakness.
*We can measure the degree of self-forgiveness and self-acceptance we allow by noticing how we talk to ourselves about our sin and weakness. We can learn to refute or ignore our negative self-talk and increase our genuine empathy and compassion for ourselves.
I enjoyed the whole chapter actually and continue to be amazed at the questions I didn't know I needed to seek the answers to...Sr. Ulrich asked and shares the answers so completely. I am grateful.
I enjoyed reading this chapter for several reasons. I could see myself in it at times, and I could also see others as well. I don't mean that in a bad way, it actually helped me to understand where they might be coming from, so I appreciated that.
ReplyDeleteBut before getting into that, I liked that she distinguished the difference between weaknesses and sins and that sometimes the only way to tell the difference is what is in our hearts. But most important to me was the reminder that the temptation to sin always comes from Satan, but God gives us weaknesses to help us be humble and so we will turn to him for help. If we do turn to him, we can not only overcome the weakness but also any temptation that might come with it, along with any other temptation Satan might throw at us.
I liked all the quotes you posted, but another one that really stood out to me was,
"Human weakness sets us up to fail at important tasks because we lack experience, training or understanding. Human weakness means we will hurt other people out of ignorance, misunderstanding or insecurity."
I think the reason I like that one is because I know I have injured others at times totally unintentionally, and feel powerless to repair whatever damage was inflicted on them. I am thankful the atonement can help heal the wound I inflict through my human-ness. But even more, I am thankful for the understanding this quote gives that we are all human and sometimes people will hurt or fail me as well, but only because they too are human with failings and insecurities, not because they intend to inflict harm. With that thought, I can be more understanding and more forgiving--and even better---refuse to be hurt or offended in the first place.
So, those are my thoughts on chapter 2. I am eager to discuss chapter 3 next Thursday. I read it on the airplane the other day and was shocked at what I discovered about myself! (And next week I will tell you what that was:-)