Forgiveness
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Forgiveness, Even If You Don’t Love Me Anymore
This may come as a shock to you, our wonderful Arizona Beehive Magazine reader: We are not perfect. There. I said it!
Some of you may have noticed a bit of a faux pau in our last issue’s recipe. At least two readers reached out with stern (one scathing) rebukes of our apparent mission to lead Members astray by asking them to purchase not-Word of Wisdom-friendly ingredients called for in the recipe. In an attempt to provide something a bit more sophisticated than homemade bread or Jello salad, noticing these ingredients was completely missed. I blame our Editor. They blew it, and I apologize for that. (By the way – I am also our magazine’s editor.)
I genuinely felt bad about this. We certainly work hard to bring Church member friendly content with each issue, and are very much not looking to lead anyone astray. (Except maybe astray from that tired Jello salad.)
Right about the time I was enjoying the notes sent to us about this issue, I came upon the Come Follow Me app (highly recommended app) scripture of the day: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
I needed to hear this because I was upset that people actually thought we were intentionally asking members to stray from Gospel teachings. I was in a mood to judge and condemn, and was certainly in no mood to forgive. But, as usual, by staying in touch with our core beliefs and applying them to our lives, such attitudes are exposed as not-Christ-like. And motivation to become better manifests itself. Every single thing we hear about how this all works is true. My heart softened. My attitude changed. And understanding from my reader’s perspective was realized.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland notes that “forgiving and forsaking offenses, old or new, is CENTRAL to the grandeur of the Atonement of Jesus Christ… that renewal and rebirth, a future free from old sorrows and past mistakes, are not only possible, but they have already been purchased, paid for, at an excruciating cost symbolized by the blood of the Lamb who shed it.” (The Ministry of Reconciliation: Oct 2018 General Conference). Marvelous perspective…
So, three lessons came from this experience: 1) Proof read better our recipes. 2) Seek understanding first from anyone accusing us of wrong doing. 3) The last issue recipe tastes great without the controversial ingredients. All is well…
Thank you for reading!
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