Pooh’s Tues.

I know I missed last week’s Pooh’s Tues.

So I picked one of my special favorites to make up for it.

 

“People who don’t Think

probably don’t have Brains;

rather, they have grey fluff

that’s blown into their

heads by mistake.”

xD

I defy the lack of post on Sunday.

(yeah, the title was my own variation on a slight HP reference…)

Today in YW’s, we had a really cool lesson on forgiveness. We’ve had a couple different lessons on it in the past few weeks, but this one was a bit different, and I really enjoyed it – it was about forgiving yourself.

It seems like sometimes, a long time after we’ve repented and we feel like the Lord has forgiven us, we still feel guilty. We took the steps to make it better, but we still feel bad. That’s often because we missed a step – forgiving ourselves. And oftentimes, that can be the hardest part of repenting. In class, we discussed a couple reasons why it’s so hard. One thing we all agreed on is that we know exactly how much reasoning (or lack thereof) went into it. We always remember it, and so it’s hard for us to let go of that. But, the longer we keep a sin, the more it hurts. So often, if we just step forward and let the Lord help us, it would be so much easier. Even though Satan wants us to think differently, our Savior is always there for us, and He is always willing to help us, as long as we’re willing to do what it takes to make it better. Satan wants us to think that for many things, there is no going back. There is no solution to our problems, and that no one can help us. But that’s not true!

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

Heavenly Father loves us. Jesus Christ loves us. They’re willing to do wonderful things for us if we live up to the standards that we’re given.

At the end of the lesson, we summed up what your course of action should be when you sin – regret, repent, forgive yourself, and move on. Don’t mull over the problem once you’ve gained forgiveness from:

• the Lord,
• anyone who you’ve wronged
• yourself

If you do spend time afterwards in constant regret, you can distract yourself from living righteously and happily. In class, we read this story from our YW’s manual that I really enjoyed the moral of:

“Sometime ago I talked with a woman 53 years of age who had committed a moral transgression at age 18. She understood that her sin was very serious, but because she had repented a thousand times we can depend on the Lord’s promise that He had forgiven her. But she had never forgiven herself. Because she felt unclean and inferior, she withdrew from her friends, refused to marry, and became a kind of social and spiritual recluse. For 35 years she downgraded herself with bitter regrets and accusations. Her life of looking back upon her sin has turned her into something far below the wonderful person that God intended her to be. Her sin at age 18 was very serious. But for 35 years she has been adding to her sin by wasting the most valuable thing in the world, which is a splendid human life” (What Doth It Profit [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965], p. 183).

The Lord wants us to keep on living our lives after we’ve repented. He put us down here to live! He knows that we’ll make mistakes, and He made a way for us to have a clean start so that we can continue on, growing closer to him along the way.

I’m so glad that we have repentance because without it, we wouldn’t be able to return to Heavenly Father! I’m so thankful for the Atonement, and the knowledge that I have of it, and it’s effect on my life. And I’m so happy that I know that Heavenly Father does (and always will) love me enough to forgive me when I do something wrong. And I know that once He has forgiven me, and I’ve forgiven myself, that I can continue on my way and strive to do better.

I really enjoyed the lesson, and I’m so glad I have an awesome teacher. She always teaches the lesson in such a way that I can always go home and think about it.

I hope that you have an awesome Sunday. It’s one of my favorite days of the week, and I really love the special opportunities to ponder on the gospel and think about stuff. I hope that you enjoy it, too.

-Kyr