“Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material: Repentance and Forgiveness in Family Life,” The Eternal Family Teacher Material (2022)
“Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material,” The Eternal Family Class Preparation Material
Lesson 25 Class Preparation Material
Repentance and Forgiveness in Family Life
“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles” of the gospel of Jesus Christ (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Two of these principles are repentance and forgiveness. What role have these principles played in your family life? As you study this material, consider how Jesus Christ can help you in your efforts to repent of wrongs or offenses you may have committed toward your family members. Also consider how the Savior can help you forgive family members who may offend or hurt you.
Section 1
How can my repentance bless my family?
While serving in the Primary General Presidency, Sister Cheryl A. Esplin taught:
Families are the Lord’s workshop on earth to help us learn and live the gospel. (“Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 8)
As we strive to learn and live the Savior’s gospel in our homes, there will be times when we make mistakes. Although disagreements and offenses occur in every family, this doesn’t mean family members are excused from being Christlike in the way they treat each other. Rather, our mistakes give us opportunities to practice the gospel principles of repentance and forgiveness in our families.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained what repentance means:
Repentance means a change of mind and heart—we stop doing things that are wrong, and we start doing things that are right. It brings us a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general. (“Point of Safe Return,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 100)
The Savior told a parable about a son who needed to repent because of choices that harmed himself and his family. This son prematurely took his inheritance and wasted it with reckless living. Impoverished and hungry, he began feeding pigs for work and was even desperate enough to eat the pigs’ food. (See Luke 15:11–16.)
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Luke 15:17–24, and consider marking principles you learn about repentance in family life.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught about how we and our family members can be blessed by our repentance:
Repentance not only changes us, but it also blesses our families and those we love. With our righteous repentance, in the timetable of the Lord, the lengthened-out arms of the Savior will not only encircle us but will also extend into the lives of our children and posterity. Repentance always means that there is greater happiness ahead. (“Repent … That I May Heal You,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 42)
While serving as a member of the Seventy, Elder L. Whitney Clayton taught how regular self-examination and prompt repentance can bless marriages. Consider how these practices can help in all of your family relationships:
I have learned that happy marriages rely on the gift of repentance. It is an essential element in every good marital relationship. Spouses who regularly conduct honest self-examination and promptly take needed steps to repent and improve experience a healing balm in their marriages. (“Marriage: Watch and Learn,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 84)
Ponder in Preparation for Class
Take a few minutes to conduct an honest self-examination. Do you need to repent of any choices that have harmed or are harming relationships with any family members? If so, what can you do to turn to the Lord and begin this process? Also consider the choices you are making that bless your relationships with your family members and how you can continue making similar choices.
Section 2
How can I forgive a family member who has wronged me?
In the Savior’s parable of the prodigal son, the older son refused to join in the celebration held in honor of his younger brother’s return (see Luke 15:25–32). Like this older son, there may be times when we need to apply the following counsel from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. (“‘Remember Lot’s Wife’: Faith Is for the Future” [Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 13, 2009], speeches.byu.edu)
Just as there may be times when you need to seek forgiveness from a family member, sometimes you might need to extend forgiveness to a family member who has offended or hurt you.
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Doctrine and Covenants 64:8–11, looking for what the Lord taught early Latter-day Saints about forgiving others.
After citing part of this scripture passage, Elder Holland explained:
It is … important for some of you living in real anguish to note what [the Lord] 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” [Luke 18:22]. (“The Ministry of Reconciliation,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 79)
Sometimes you may feel reluctant or unable to forgive. Or you may feel that the distance between you and a family member is too great for your relationship to be reconciled. Consider how the following counsel from President James E. Faust of the First Presidency can help you in your efforts to forgive:
We need to recognize and acknowledge angry feelings. It will take humility to do this, but if we will get on our knees and ask Heavenly Father for a feeling of forgiveness, He will help us. …
… It is not easy to let go and empty our hearts of festering resentment. The Savior has offered to all of us a precious peace through His Atonement, but this can come only as we are willing to cast out negative feelings of anger, spite, or revenge. (“The Healing Power of Forgiveness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 69)
Elder Massimo De Feo of the Seventy also emphasized the importance of focusing on the Savior:
My dear brothers and sisters, if you are struggling to find the strength to forgive, don’t think of what others have done to you, but think of what the Savior has done for you, and you will find peace in the redemptive blessings of His Atonement. (“Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 82)
Forgiveness and healing can take time. Be patient with yourself as you seek the Lord’s help and His gift of healing.
Record Your Thoughts
Consider what you have learned and felt while studying this material. Record your desires or goals related to repentance and forgiveness in your family life. How can you invite the Savior to help you in your efforts?