“Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.” (D&C 58:42)
My 6 year old son got in trouble at school today. When it came time for us to talk about it, he went through a lot of emotions—he is my sensitive, emotional, artist type. First he got silly, then lashed out at me in anger, and then ran to the couch in the other room to hide his tears. When I coaxed him to me for a hug, and told him I still loved him and forgave him he said with trembling lip and giant tears, “but I don’t know if Heavenly Father will forgive me!”
I’m so glad I took the time to hear him out, because a powerful teaching moment presented itself.
“You made a mistake right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did Heavenly Father know we were all going to make mistakes?”
“Yeah.”
“So he gave us a great gift. Do you know what that was?”
“No.”
“A Savior! And Jesus came and suffered for our mistakes so that we could be forgiven right?”
“Yeah.”
“So what do you need to do?”
“Say sorry.”
“Right! Ask Him for forgiveness, and then try your hardest not to make that same mistake again. But if you do, He will still forgive you. He will forgive you every. Single. Time. For any mistake, no matter how big it is. Because He loves you so much.”
The tears stopped and a little smile turned the corners of his lips. And then he was off—doing headstands on the stairs and somersaults through the halls, a burden lifted because of the simple, miraculous truth of the beautiful plan of salvation and a Savior who loves Him.
Become as a little child…
Meditation and Journaling Prompt: What is your mistake today that is weighing you down and keeping you from somersaulting through your life? Do you believe you will be forgiven or are you stuck thinking your sin is too big?