“The Ministry of Reconciliation (excerpts),” New Era, Nov. 2018, 38–39.
The Ministry of Reconciliation (excerpts)
Brothers and sisters, Jesus has asked that we “live together in love” [Doctrine and Covenants 42:45] with “no disputations among you” [3 Nephi 11:22]. “He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me,” He warned the Nephites [3 Nephi 11:29]. Indeed, to a great degree, our relationship to Christ will be determined—or at least affected—by our relationship to each other. …
Surely each of us could cite an endless array of old scars and sorrows and painful memories that this very moment still corrode the peace in someone’s heart or family or neighborhood. Whether we have caused that pain or been the recipient of the pain, those wounds need to be healed so that life can be as rewarding as God intended it to be. …
“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” [Luke 6:37], 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” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:10]. … 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].
In such an invitation to be His disciple and to try to do as He did, Jesus is asking us to be instruments of His grace—to be “ambassadors for Christ” in “the ministry of reconciliation,” as Paul described it to the Corinthians [see 2 Corinthians 5:18–20]. …
My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify that forgiving and forsaking offenses, old or new, is central to the grandeur of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify that ultimately such spiritual repair can come only from our divine Redeemer, He who rushes to our aid “with healing in his wings” [Malachi 4:2]. 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.