Primary 23 Vipers and Forgiveness

The miracle of forgiveness and the warning of sin.

At times we learn that the Lord asks us to forgive, in fact he asks us to forgive all men (D&C 64:8-11). We were taught a great example of this in a Conference in 2011 by Dean Byrd.

To sum up the story, a boy is camping with friends when he is bit by a rattlesnake. The youth had two decisions, get revenge or get help. The boy and his friends chased down the snake and kill it. The boy, because of his choice lost his leg to the poison. Had he chose to forgive the beast and get help, he could of saved his leg. 

Brothers and sisters, we strongly urge you and plead with you to forgive everyone. Hanging on to anger, fear or pain just hurts you. Like poison in your body, poison of the soul will cause decay and corruption.

Star Wars summed it up like this...
Fear leads anger...
Anger leads to hate...
Hate leads to suffering...

Let us not be pushed to wanting to keeping poison in our souls. Forgive and have faith. Faith will build your testimony and so will forgiveness in your trials. Sure, we may be hurt physically or emotionally but we will be healed faster and be happier if we learn to forgive.

The other thing we need to stress is a desire not to keep the viper of sin close. Elder Sorenson in 2015 taught a lesson about snakes also when he emphasis that you could not pet snakes. Sin must not be kept close in your mind, heart or within reach. Should you see the vipers of sin and temptation, turn away from them. The seducing movements of temptation can be too much for people at times, so we encourage you to avoid such things. Just as a snake cannot change its markings so is sin. Do not be the boy who played with the snake all day because it said it would not bite him only to be bitten as in the parable that is among the Cherokees. Be wise, listen to the Spirit.  The Lord will guide your path.

We testify that the Lord is love and light and will lead you to a path of light and happiness. Anger, hate and sin are of the devil and will lead you to a path of darkness and despair. It is up to you to choose which path you want your life to follow. We love you guys and pray that you all will choose the path of light and happiness.

Challenges 
1) Read D&C 67-70
2) Forgive someone or yourself and pray for the Lords help. Write down how it made you feel.

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