I want to talk a little bit about forgiveness. It is one
principle and characteristic that is needed when raising a happy family. No one
is perfect and I believe that people can have second chances. I think that the
hardest behaviors that I could image dealing with in a family situation or in
marriage is infidelity. Infidelity unfortunately seems to be the one of the
most prevalent behavior that causes damages marriages and sometimes divorce. Being
unfaithful to your partner you committed your life too is detrimental to your
spouse, your children, your friends, and your community. When someone does this
it doesn’t just hurt you, it hurts a lot of people (ripple effect) and I feel
is one of the most selfish acts that someone could perform against another. It
tears families apart. Dealing with personal forgiveness, I would have to be
honest and say that it is really hard to do. For a while I didn’t want to let
go of unforgiving feelings towards someone close to me, because I felt hurt and
angry. The thing that helped me the most in beginning to forgive this person
was actually my father’s example. He was the one that suggested we pray for
this person every night and morning as a family. I was surprised, because this
choice seemed to have hit my dad the hardest. I was humbled by his forgiving
heart and strength. It was a testimony to me to love everyone, because they are
all God’s children and he loves them just as much as he loves me. This helped
me to begin to gain a testimony of the Atonement on my own. Praying for someone
else is something that is extremely powerful and opens your eyes to love them.
I am sure lots of us can think of several behaviors where we feel that as a
person couldn’t be forgiven or don’t deserve our forgiveness, but we are
commanded to forgive seven times seven. This isn’t literal, but we are taught
that God will forgive who he wants to forgive, but of us, he requires us to
forgive all men. This is straightforward and leaves us no room to give excuse.
We cannot afford to be selfish and withhold forgiveness from someone else. Forgiveness
is a healing virtue that helps people become better individuals. I realize some
situations are unbearable difficult and I have to trust that the Lord will work
out all of these things when the time is right. I have a testimony of
forgiveness and the power of the Atonement. The Lord loves us and wants us to
turn to him, in good circumstances and in bad.
In my class
we did an activity where I chose to make a list with my spouse of all the
things that would make our homes a happier place where we could feel the Spirit
and have a warm and inviting place to come home to. We came up with these
things:
• Keeping
everything a lot cleaner by doing daily chores.
• Have
pictures of Christ in the home as a reminder of who we are trying to be like.
• Have
positive things around the home that would remind you to keep the spirit here
and have a positive attitude.
• Filter
media. Be strict about what we allow into our homes. Chuck anything that would
be inappropriate.
• Be
organized with our things- A house of order is a house of God.
• Be healthy
and involved in church and community activities.
Some things that I learned from others in the class this
week were:
• Be cleanly
and organized-invites the spirit.
• Plan for
family time, if we don’t it won’t really happen.
• Go through
things in the home and eliminate anything that isn’t conducive to the spirit.
• It’s okay
to be strict about what you let into your homes. This is where you have control
about what happens.
• Set
technology aside for family times. Family is more important.
No comments:
Post a Comment