What About the Bigger Ones?

"Is it possible to reclaim a life that through reckless abandon has become so strewn with garbage that it appears that the person is unforgivable? Or what about the one who is making an honest effort but has fallen back into sin so many times that he feels that there is no possible way to break the seemingly endless pattern? Or what about the person who has changed his life but just can’t forgive himself?"

I've wondered about these questions before. I've talked to many individuals who have wondered as well. "Is there really, honestly hope for me?"

We may be able to accept that Christ performed miracles of physical healing when He was on the earth. We may be able to accept that He can forgive honest mistakes and flaws in people. Maybe we can hope that He would be able to overlook our smaller faults.

But what about the bigger ones?



Even when we have deliberately, rebelliously turned away, knowing full well what we have done wrong; even when we have fallen down a million times to the same tendencies or addictions; even when we have wasted days and months and years of our lives living the wrong way, and we can't possibly imagine how anyone could forgive, accept, or want to help us because of the life we've lived-
Jesus Christ is always waiting, with His hand outstretched.

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:11–12).

He suffered the pain of every human soul, and He suffered for our sins.
Jesus Christ did not willingly suffer the pains of the whole human race so that He could then turn His back on us.

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ is available to each of us. His Atonement is infinite. It applies to everyone, even you. It can clean, reclaim, and sanctify even you. That is what infinite means—total, complete, all, forever. President Boyd K. Packer has taught: 'There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ' (“The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 20)."

What an incredible, powerful truth. It will take time. It will take effort. But all of us can change and be entirely forgiven. Not only only can we have restored what we have lost, but we can grow to become great people. Just like when we get sick, and our bodies create an immunity, or when we break a bone and it grows back stronger, the same principle of overcompensation applies to us as we heal from spiritual wounds.
There is hope for each one of us. If we begin today, we can change. Whether our sins are large or small, we can all feel the relief that comes with complete, sincere repentance, and the forgiveness of Heavenly Father.

To learn more about repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, visit www.mormon.org.
The quotations in this post were taken from a talk by Elder Shane M. Bowen, "The Atonement can Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify Our Lives."