Elder James E. Faust left for the next world on August 10, 2007. Three short months earlier he gave one of the more powerful sermons on forgiveness - his last and possibly greatest gift to the world. Elder Faust cites deeply touching examples of forgiveness under terrible circumstances. (See below for a short, well-made video highlighting one of the examples he cited and the 2-part video of that sermon.) We can hope and pray that, under similar circumstances, we would act as Christ-like as the good people in these examples. But there's a way to up the odds - practice.
My guess is that God had personally been teaching these people forgiveness for years and that they'd listened and practiced. My guess is that years before the traumatic events of their lives, they'd overcome the natural man's tendency to desire revenge, justice and grudge. They put on the countenance of Christ and forgave little hurts inflicted by coworkers, bosses, friends and strangers and especially family. They'd forgiven insults, ugly suggestions, gossip, back talk, arrogance, broken windows, scratched cars, aggressive drivers, lies, broken hearts, abandonment and more. They'd learned to give all that hurt to Christ and derive all their needed peace from him. My guess is that they'd learned to turn over their doubts and fears long before they were asked to forgive a more serious hurt.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
Not everyone has a story of dramatic forgiveness like the ones Elder Foust tells, but by tomorrow we could all have a story of practicing for such a thing. And for most of us, that's all that'll ever be required.
One last thought. Think about the effects of forgiving and how they're focused on the forgiver. If the forgiven even know about the forgiveness, the effects on them are secondary. The forgiver gets the peace, the freedom, the newness of life and more. Therefore, forgiveness can be considered a selfish (but righteous) act while asking for forgiveness can be considered a selfless act.
Consider practicing forgiveness and inviting to forgive. It'll be fun and rewarding.
Text of Elder Faust's sermon:
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