Forgivness

Wherefore, I say unto you, that 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.

And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds.

And him that repenteth not of his sins, and confesseth them not, ye shall bring before the church, and do with him as the scripture saith unto you, either by commandment or by revelation.

And this ye shall do that God may be glorified—not because ye forgive not, having not compassion, but that ye may be justified in the eyes of the law, that ye may not offend him who is your lawgiver—

Verily I say, for this cause ye shall do these things.¹

The Lord says that we are to forgive everyone their trespasses, yet it is up to God to decide whom He will forgive and when He will forgive them. Does this apply to Satan? Are we to forgive Satan for attempting to destroy us and lead us down to Hell?²

If we are told to forgive all, does the devil fall under that category?

As an example:

The devil temps a person, and he falls under sin. The person gets through the ordeal, if he holds malice against the Devil is he holding a grudge? Should that person forgive Satan for trying to lead them to hell?

Part of the forgiveness process is to not bring it up again in the future. To constantly bring it up or talk about the ordeal is not to actually forgive that person. Some might say they are simply warning about what the devil can do by bringing up past experiences. But according to the thought of forgiveness, to keep talking about it is not actual forgiveness.

It is a simple question, is it not? To hold a grudge against the devil would be to also hold in a form of contention, which is of the devil:

For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.³

Did not Jesus tell us to forgive those who had harmed us as well? In the bible we ready:

But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.⁴

If we are to be godlike, or to seek that which is like God, then are we not meant to do as the Lord says? To forgive those who are our enemy. Isn’t Satan our enemy? Doesn’t Satan try to use us and to curse us? I’m not implying that we should love Satan, that caused issues with Cain for he eventually murdered because of it. The Lord was clear about this:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.⁵

But we cannot have hatred in our heart. That would not be Christlike. God and Jesus know our hearts. They know our intentions. If we are of mind to follow the will of the Devil, they know it. If we wish to simply do good to others as the Lord commanded,⁶ they know that as well.

I suppose it will be known in the end of times, as we all come before the judgment bar of Christ. Perhaps we are meant to remain in ignorance in regards to this? How does one even begin to forgive the devil for what he’s done to those on this earth; and what are we to forgive him of exactly?

It was because of the devil that Eve ate of the fruit and in turn Adam ate of the fruit allowing us to come down and gain bodies. For without such an act, we would not be here. I would not be one to assume that Satan helped God out with his plan, for we are to understand that Satan knew not the mind of God.⁷ It is but an interesting question to ponder and think about. I for one would not want to leave someone unforgiving if we are meant to forgive all.

To hold a grudge is to hold onto the greater sin. Which is why the Lord has told us to forgive all. The greatest example we have of the Lord forgiving others is when he was on the cross.

In the time of his agony on the cross of Calvary, with vile and hateful accusers before him, those who had brought him to this terrible crucifixion, he cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34.)⁸

Again, we do not have these answers at this time and place. Maybe someday we shall.

1. D&C 64:9-14

2. 2 Nephi 28:20-21

3. 3 Nephi 11:29

4. Luke 6:27-28

5. Matthew 22:37-39

6. Luke 6:31

7. Moses 4:6

8. Of You It Is Required To Forgive, Gordon B. Hinckley, June 1991 First Presidency Message