Hinckley’s Lie: True Forgiveness Means Forgetting

29 October

Matthew 5:9; “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGE, ‘The Order and Will of God,’ January 1989

Gordon B. Hinckley“So many of us are prone to say we forgive, when in fact we are unwilling to forget. If the Lord is willing to forget the sins of the repentant, then why are so many of us inclined to bring up the past again and again? Here is a great lesson we all need to learn. There is no true forgiveness without forgetting.” – Gordon B. Hinckley

Also see:

D&C 58:42; “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”

James 3:16; “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”

The Apostle James was spot on. There’s never any peace in the constant barrage of half-truths and misleading, not to mention misinterpretations, of God’s word.

Mr. Hinckley’s message was, and still is, nothing but a lie. The Bible doesn’t tell us we have to forget in order to forgive. The mere idea of this scenario is almost laughable. So how  does one forget about something they’re supposed to offer forgiveness for? I’m no rocket scientist, but in all honesty, I don’t think it’s humanly possible…sigh…

As I was reading over Hinckley’s quote aloud the other day, my daughter Axi chimed in with a helpful word. One of her classes at university is Biblical Standards for Conflict Resolution.

At any rate, her professor is having the class use a book written by Ken Sande called The Peace Maker. As an FYI, I highly recommend this for everyone! Here are some of her footnotes she passed on I thought might be a practical picture of what biblical forgiveness looks like. Additionally, the link below provides a slide-share of several biblical examples on how true forgiveness is implemented.

The Peace Makers by Ken Sande

Forgiveness is not a feeling

Forgiveness is not forgetting – forgetting is passive – which means it’s something that happens over time

Forgiveness is active –  which means it is an action

Forgiveness is not okaying what they did, but showing God’s grace towards someone, like He forgave us.

Mr. Hinckley’s judgment was way off, and provides nothing but heartache to those who buy into his lies. You don’t have to forget what someone did, nor should you in some cases as Axi’s professor stated. To look over, or forget some things, could actually be very dangerous which would be spiritually unsound.

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