The Merciful Obtain Mercy

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday morning session of the April 2012 General Conference.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's (then Second Counselor in the First Presidency) address, The Merciful Obtain Mercy, touched me deeply. It brought to mind President James E. Faust's April 2007 talk, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, on the same subject. Less than a year after President Faust's talk I had the opportunity to put into practice that very principle of forgiveness.

I won't give the specific details, but a close family member made choices that betrayed my trust and hurt me deeply. I pled with the Lord to take away my anger and hurt, and was miraculously and immediately relieved of my burden and able to forgive the person. He later told me that my act of forgiveness helped him understand better the Savior's atonement. Almost two decades later I've come to the realization that I had been a witness of Jesus Christ "in all times and in all things, and in all places." (Mosiah 18:9) 

President Uchtdorf said, "Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions. We must repent, and we must forgive others."

I learned from reading Amish Grace by Kraybill, Nolt and Weaver-Zercher, that the Amish, about whom President Faust spoke, don't have some special ability to forgive, but that that particular teaching of Jesus is cultivated daily and supported by the ethos of the group. 

Forgiving ourselves and others is not easy. In fact, for most of us it requires a major change in our attitude and way of thinking--even a change of heart. But there is good news. This "mighty change" of heart is exactly what the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to bring into our lives.

How is it done, President Uchtdorf asks? Through the love of God. When our hearts are filled with the love of God, something good and pure happens to us. 

I've learned that forgiving others is not for their benefit, but for mine. By giving grace and mercy through forgiveness, I remove from my heart the poison that will fester and canker my heart and soul. I can move forward with my life unburdened by anger and hatred. I can feel the peace of the redemption of my Savior's Atoning love, mercy and grace towards and for me.

Forgiveness and mercy seem to me to be a gift we give ourselves so we can receive the greater gift of forgiveness and mercy from the Savior for our own sins. It blesses our own life more than those we forgive, some of whom may never even know of our forgiveness, such as the person who cuts in front of us in traffic; or others who make life tense and uncomfortable.

President Uchtdorf sums it up saying, "Remember, in the end, it is the merciful who obtain mercy." I can testify that has been true in my life, and I have hope for the life to come.