“I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”  D&C 64:10.  I begin with this because it is the second half that I wish to speak about at this time.  My thoughts today are on the needs to forgive all men.  Not the point of forgiving others, but the need to forgive yourself.  President Hunter spoke about the importance of forgiving yourself just as much as forgiving your neighbor.

            Recently, I was pondering deeply on various things, and there has been for a long time I have not been able to forgive myself for things that I have done in the past.  I was thinking about various recent conference talks about the importance of forgiving yourself as part of the Atonement, and I found a need to say to myself that I forgive myself of my errors that I have repented of.

            After having done this, I have found that there has been a great burden lifted from me.  I was able to finally forgive myself of things, and I have never felt better about it.  We are constantly thinking of the importance of forgiving others, and the need to do so, but as stated in many talks and articles, there is an importance to find forgiveness in ourselves also.

            To truly obtain the fullness of the Atonement, one must not only forgive others of their faults and follies, but also to forgive yourself of the sins and missteps you make.  The importance of learning from your mistakes and working on not making them again is important and a key part of bettering yourself.

If you have ever had this longing point of stress, harm, feeling low, and you feel that you have repented, or that there is just something that seems to be hanging on you, and you can’t quite put your finger on it; I encourage you to look inside and ask yourself “Have I forgiven me for these things?”  If the answer is ‘no’, or uncertain; I say take it from me, forgive yourself.  It will make you feel better like you have never felt before.