Mormon beliefs reflect that forgiveness is essential to having happiness in this life and salvation in the life to come.  The scriptures reveal two aspects of forgiveness: seeking forgiveness from the Lord through repentance and prayer, and forgiving all those who hurt or offend us. Jesus Christ directs all men to ask Heavenly Father to “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

To sin is to burden ourselves with guilt and sorrow.  To sin when we know we are sinning against the Lord, acting against His will is a miserable act.  We also sin against our fellow man – many sins have consequences that hurt others.  Thus, we lose a certain closeness to Heavenly Father by stepping away from Him, and we also lose a certain closeness to others, because sin is essentially selfish.

So what do Mormons believe about God’s forgiveness for sin?  Mormons believe that the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the act of Him taking upon Himself the sins of all mankind, makes it possible for us to receive forgiveness. But to be forgiven, we must repent – a genuine repentance that comes from an acknowledgement of our sins.  Repentance will relieve us from the pain and guilt that comes from transgression.  In fact, complete repentance brings comfort and joy, because the Lord has promised that “he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42). As the Lord does not remember our sins after our repentance, we do not need to torture ourselves with their memory.  In fact, we should not.

The teachings of the LDS Church (Mormons) state that the Savior stands waiting for us to come to Him so that we may be forgiven.  This stand is inviting – He wants us to be forgiven.  He wants us to be whole, to be happy.  The Book of Mormon records that when Jesus Christ came to the Americas, as when he came to Jerusalem, He extended the invitation for men to look to Him as the way to salvation and the Father’s forgiveness. The invitation is for all.  3 Nephi 9:13 states: “Will ye not now return unto me. And repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?”

By repentance, we confess and forsake our sins. In the beliefs of Mormonism, this means when we sin we first admit to sinning, always to the Lord and sometimes—for more serious sins—also to a priesthood authority in the Church, such as a bishop.  If our sin has harmed another, we should make restitution to them – for example, if we have stolen something, we must return it.  Then, we must forsake the sin.  We must promise ourselves and the Lord that we will not commit the sin again. The process of repentance is difficult – sins are repeated, mistakes are made again in weak impulsive moments, we fall into new sins – but the humble who seek to overcome sin will be blessed.  Jesus’ sacrifice, again, was for all.  We can find forgiveness.

In addition to seeking forgiveness of our own sins, the Lord commands us to forgive all men of any offense against us.  Through revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord said: “Ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:9-10).

Mormons’ beliefs state, thus, that it’s a sin to hold grudges against other men. The commandment to forgive all men can be a difficult one – especially when the offense seems too great to be forgivable.  But to withhold forgiveness only harms us.  It’s easy to become angry or bitter during hard times. It’s easy to hate someone for persecuting us, especially if it seems without cause.  But if we would strive to live a Christ-like life, we should remember that Jesus Christ forgave those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  Even in incomprehensible pain and dying, Christ could forgive.

Fortunately, we can pray for strength to forgive. The Lord is always ready to bless us with power and increased love for others. When we restrain ourselves from judging people, when we look for the good, when we look for reasons to love people, we will find reasons.  Latter-day Saints believe forgiveness can heal our wounds, as repentance can. The love that the Lord gives us can replace feelings of bitterness and anger with feelings of peace.