The same Son of God who atoned for my sins is the same Redeemer who will also save those who have deeply hurt me.

 Through His atoning sacrifice, He can release us from the sin and weight of a warring heart and provide us with the sustenance we need....

the Savior—in an incomprehensible way—take upon Him our sins and the sins of those who have hurt or offended us. In Gethsemane and on the cross, He claimed these sins. He made a way for us to let go of a vengeful heart. That “way” is through forgiving—which can be one of the most difficult things we ever do and one of the most divine things we ever experience....

We are not left to deal with the consequences of others’ actions on our own; we too can be made whole and given the chance to be saved from the weight of a warring heart and any actions that may follow....

Please know that forgiving someone does not mean that you put yourself in a position where you will continue to be hurt. “We can work toward forgiving someone and still feel prompted by the Spirit to stay away from them.”....

Over the years and in my efforts to find peace and healing on the path of forgiveness, I came to realize in a profound way that the same Son of God who atoned for my sins is the same Redeemer who will also save those who have deeply hurt me. I could not truly believe the first truth without believing the second....

Richard G. Scott said: “You cannot erase what has been done, but you can forgive. Forgiveness heals terrible, tragic wounds, for it allows the love of God to purge your heart and mind of the poison of hate. It cleanses your consciousness of the desire for revenge. It makes place for the purifying, healing, restoring love of the Lord.”....

On the path of forgiveness and healing lies a choice not to perpetuate unhealthy patterns or relationships in our families or elsewhere. To all within our influence, we can offer kindness for cruelty, love for hate, gentleness for abrasiveness, safety for distress, and peace for contention.

To give what you have been denied is a powerful part of divine healing possible through faith in Jesus Christ. To live in such a way that you give, as Isaiah has said, beauty for the ashes of your life is an act of faith that follows the supreme example of a Savior who suffered all that He might succor all.

Beauty for Ashes: The Healing Path of Forgiveness

October 2022

General Conference

Kristin M. Yee

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/23yee?lang=eng&verse=#p

Jesus specializes in the seemingly impossible. He came here to make the impossible possible, the irredeemable redeemable, to heal the unhealable, to right the unrightable, to promise the unpromisable. And He’s really good at it. In fact, He’s perfect at it.

 Dear friends who have been so terribly wounded—and for that matter, anyone who has borne the injustices of life—you can have a new beginning and a fresh start. In Gethsemane and on Calvary, Jesus “took upon Himself … all of the anguish and suffering ever experienced by you and me,” and He has overcome it all! With arms outstretched, the Savior offers the gift of healing to you. With courage, patience, and faithful focus on Him, before too long you can come to fully accept this gift. You can let go of your pain and leave it at His feet.

Your gentle Savior declared, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that [you] might have life, and that [you] might have it more abundantly.” You are a survivor, you can heal, and you can trust that with the power and grace of Jesus Christ, you will overcome and conquer.

Jesus specializes in the seemingly impossible. He came here to make the impossible possible, the irredeemable redeemable, to heal the unhealable, to right the unrightable, to promise the unpromisable. And He’s really good at it. In fact, He’s perfect at it. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Healer, amen

He Is Risen with Healing in His Wings: We Can Be More Than Conquerors

April 2022

General Conference

Patrick Kearon

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/24kearon?lang=eng&verse=#p

Please know that the Savior has descended below all things, even what has happened to you

 Please know that the Savior has descended below all things, even what has happened to you. Because of that, He knows exactly what real terror and shame feel like and how it feels to be abandoned and broken. From the depths of His atoning suffering, the Savior imparts hope you thought was lost forever, strength you believed you could never possess, and healing you couldn’t imagine was possible.

He Is Risen with Healing in His Wings: We Can Be More Than Conquerors

April 2022

General Conference

Patrick Kearon

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04/24kearon?lang=eng&verse=#p

He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.

One of my favorite scriptures is John 4:4, which reads, “And he must needs go through Samaria.”

Why do I love that scripture? Because Jesus did not need to go to Samaria. The Jews of His day despised the Samaritans and traveled a road around Samaria. But Jesus chose to go there to declare before all the world for the first time that He was the promised Messiah. For this message, He chose not only an outcast group but also a woman—and not just any woman but a woman living in sin—someone considered at that time to be the least of the least. I believe Jesus did this so that each of us may always understand that His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.

Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ

October 2018

General Conference

Robert C. Gay

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/taking-upon-ourselves-the-name-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng&verse=#p

In short, I’m not sure I know how I got through this trial, save it was [the Savior]. It’s the only explanation.

God did not create our spirits to be independent of Him. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through the incalculable gift of His Atonement, not only saves us from death and offers us, through repentance, forgiveness for our sins, but He also stands ready to save us from the sorrows and pains of our wounded souls.

A friend wrote to me: “A nearly five-year battle with emotional ‘darkness and gloom’ in varying degrees takes you to the very edge of your capacities, resolve, faith, and patience. After days of ‘suffering,’ you are tired. After weeks of ‘suffering,’ you are exhausted. After months of ‘suffering,’ you begin to lose your ground. After years of ‘suffering,’ you submit to the possibility that you’ll never get better again. Hope becomes the most precious, and elusive, of gifts. In short, I’m not sure I know how I got through this trial, save it was [the Savior]. It’s the only explanation. I can’t explain how I know this, except that I do. Because of Him, I got through this.”

Wounded

October 2018

General Conference

Neil L. Andersen

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/wounded?lang=eng&verse=#p

He Absorbs Our Sorrows

In a conversation earlier this year, Richard Norby said to me, “We answer to what has been given us.” He shared this from his journal: “The tests and trials that come to each of us give the opportunity and privilege to better know the Savior and understand in deeper detail his atoning sacrifice. It is he we lean on. It is he we seek out. It is he we depend on. It is he we have confidence in. It is he that we love with all our heart, without any reservations. The Savior has covered all the physical and emotional pains that are part of mortality. He takes the pain from us. He absorbs our sorrows.”

Wounded

October 2018

General Conference

Neil L. Andersen

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/wounded?lang=eng&verse=#p

Your Pains and Sorrows Have Already Been Purchased, Paid For

We thank Him, and our Heavenly Father who sent Him, 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

October 2018

General Conference

Jeffrey R. Holland

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/the-ministry-of-reconciliation?lang=eng&verse=#p

To Forgive Does Not Mean You Reenter a Toxic Relationship

“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven,” Christ taught in New Testament times. And in our day: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” It is, however, important for some of you living in real anguish to note what He did not say. He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.”

The Ministry of Reconciliation

October 2018

General Conference

Jeffrey R. Holland

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/the-ministry-of-reconciliation?lang=eng&verse=#p

We can replace the word cancer with any of the other physical, mental, or emotional ailments we may face. Because of the Resurrection, they have already been cured too.

Each of us has physical, mental, and emotional limitations and weaknesses. These challenges, some of which seem so intractable now, will eventually be resolved. None of these problems will plague us after we are resurrected. Alisa researched survival rates for persons with the type of cancer she had, and the numbers were not encouraging. She wrote: “But there is a cure, so I’m not scared. Jesus has already cured my cancer, and yours. ... I will be better. I’m glad I know this.”

We can replace the word cancer with any of the other physical, mental, or emotional ailments we may face. Because of the Resurrection, they have already been cured too. The miracle of resurrection, the ultimate cure, is beyond the power of modern medicine. But it is not beyond the power of God. We know it can be done because the Savior is resurrected and will bring to pass the Resurrection of each of us too.

And There Shall Be No More Death April 2016 General Conference Elder Paul V. Johnson