A Perfect Brightness of Hope
In 2 Nephi 31:20 we read: “Therefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.” My prayer today is that we may find “a perfect brightness of hope” and that we may “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ.”
A perfect brightness of hope. These are ponderous words. How do we find that? I don’t have all the answers, but I can share an experience I had where the Spirit blessed me to look forward with more hope in my life.
In the late 1970s I was living in Houston, TX. I was trying to help my father start a small welding business. It was a time of economic uncertainty with inflation going to 15% or more per annum during this period. It was a sobering and difficult time for the family as my parent’s financial nest egg quickly dwindled under the dual pressures of inflation and the costs of trying to start a business.
As it became apparent that the business would not succeed, my thoughts naturally turned to what I should do next. It was a dark time for me and I had many anxieties about the future.
Then one evening, while on splits with the missionaries, I engaged the elder I was with in small talk about his plans for the future. His hopes were as you might expect; focusing on plans for college and marriage. In my anxiety I wondered how he could look forward with hope while all I could see was despair.
And then I was moved upon by the Spirit! Here was a missionary making plans for a bright future at the same time that I was seeing a future filled mostly with gloom. How could both futures be the same? I was literally moved by the Spirit and there and then I made a resolution that changed the course of my life. I would not focus on the gloom but on the best things I could. And I did.
That insight provided by the Spirit has been a tremendous blessing throughout my entire life. How grateful I am for the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Now, in 2022, almost 45 years after my experience in Houston, economic and other conditions in the world seem likewise gloomy. Inflation is again high and is really and seriously affecting our lives. There are a myriad other challenges — too many to enumerate.
But, as in the late 1970’s, amid all this gloom, there is still reason to have a perfect brightness of hope. May I review some inspiring information from our recent general conferences?
2020 14 new temples announced
2021 33 new temples announced
2022 35 new temples announced
That is a total of 82 new temples announced in the last 6 General Conferences alone! Where is the focus of the prophet? Where is the focus of the Lord? 82 temples are not being built to sit idle but to bless the world and to further the work of salvation. And how will the world be blessed? By the devoted work of all the saints who labor to help redeem our kindred dead.
So how do we find a “perfect brightness of hope?” We look to the actions of our living prophet. We look to the sure teachings and impeccable example of Jesus Christ. They show us the direction that God is taking His church in preparation for the 2nd Coming of our Lord and Savior. Look to the prophet and look to the Lord and you will see the path your life should follow notwithstanding all the distractions of the world.
Now, with regard to the weightier matter, the matter of pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ. There are many ways to do this, but I should like to focus briefly on two distractions, both related to forgiveness, that can hinder us in pressing forward if we are not careful.
As you reflect on your life do you ever from time to time, inwardly cringe, I mean seriously cringe, as you reflect on some of your past mistakes? I thought I was alone in suffering from this malady but I have met numerous members of the church who feel the same way. Somehow, despite the recognition, despite the forsaking, despite the confession, despite the restitution, despite the sincerity, despite the tears, and despite the years, somehow, we can still shudder under the awful memory of our previous sins and wonder, as did Enos of old, “Lord, how is it done?” [Enos 1: 7]. How will I ever be able to move on?
In the General Conference of April 2009 Elder Neil L. Anderson provided some helpful insight: “Sometimes we wonder why we remember our sins long after we have forsaken them. Why does the sadness for our mistakes at times continue following our repentance?
You will remember a tender story told by President James E. Faust. “As a small boy on the farm … , I remember my grandmother … cooking our delicious meals on a hot wood stove. When the wood box next to the stove became empty, Grandmother would silently pick up the box, go out to refill it from the pile of cedar wood outside, and bring the heavily laden box back into the house.”
President Faust’s voice then filled with emotion as he continued: “I was so insensitive … I sat there and let my beloved grandmother refill the kitchen wood box. I feel ashamed of myself and have regretted my [sin of] omission for all of my life. I hope someday to ask for her forgiveness.”
Elder Andersen continues: “More than 65 years had passed. If President Faust still remembered and regretted not helping his grandmother after all those years, should we be surprised with some of the things we still remember and regret?
The scriptures do not say that we will forget our forsaken sins in mortality. Rather, they declare that the Lord will forget.
The forsaking of sins implies never returning. Forsaking requires time. To help us, the Lord at times allows the residue of our mistakes to rest in our memory. It is a vital part of our mortal learning.
With time, we will feel the anguish of our sorrow subside, taking “away the guilt from our hearts” and bringing “peace of conscience.”
Brothers and Sisters, I know that some of you feel you will never be able to forget, that you will never be able to move on. But Elder Andersen promises that you can and will heal despite the intruding memories. I too testify that healing and peace of conscience can come through repentance and steadfastness in Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. It is a precious blessing and can be obtained in all our lives through Christ’s atonement.
Now again, because we remember, and sometimes still shudder at our past mistakes, we might also feel that we may not have really been forgiven — and because of that we may still feel unworthy before the Lord. This feeling of unworthiness, when repentance has occurred, is also a grand hindrance to pressing forward with steadfastness in Christ. For if we doubt that we have been forgiven, then how can we press forward? We are seemingly left in despair as long as we are uncertain of the forgiveness.
In regard to his repentance and forgiveness of his sins Enos received a most wonderful assurance from the Lord; it came in the form of a voice from heaven: “And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed. And I Enos knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.” [Enos 1:5-6]
Such strong and unambiguous manifestations of divine power are less, rather than more common in our lives. So how do we, short of direct revelation from heaven, know when that glorious forgiveness has been granted? It seems so elusive. Again, Elder Andersen provides some insight in his book The Divine Gift of Forgiveness:
“Recognizing that we are being forgiven requires that we identify the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Lord describes it this way: “I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy.” When we are repenting, we often hope for an extraordinary surge of heavenly power full of mercy and grace, a power that irrefutably comes from heaven. At times, intense feelings from the Holy Ghost come in exactly this way. More often, however, this spiritual influence is something that is bestowed upon us as the dews from heaven — gently, line upon line, day upon day, here a little and there a little — until one day, looking back, we realize that we feel clean, and our guilt has been swept away.” [Niel L. Anderson, The Divine Gift of Forgiveness, p.264.]
I would like to bear a second witness of what Elder Andersen has said. I have had many powerful spiritual experiences in my life. Some so strong that they flooded my whole being. Interestingly though, none of these remarkable spiritual experiences was associated with repentance. For me, as Elder Andersen stated, the receipt of the spirit of forgiveness after repentance came as gentle dews from heaven. I suspect it will be the same for you.
I testify that God and the Holy Spirit indeed cannot lie. So, over time, as we begin to feel the sanctifying influences and presence of the Spirit again in our lives, and as that Spirit strengthens and grows, we may know, with perfect assurance, that our sins have been forgiven notwithstanding the sometimes poignant recollections we have of them. This is the Gift of the Holy Ghost working in our lives to sanctify us and to prepare us to dwell eternally with our Heavenly Father.
Please do not despair at the travails of the world. Look to our prophet and to our Savior Jesus Christ to see the paths we should follow to navigate the challenges of life. Likewise, do not let your memories of sins, for which you have truly and faithfully repented, ever let you think that our Heavenly Father has not forgotten them. God cannot lie and if He says that He will forget your sins He will. You will remember them as part of your learning experience from life, but God will not and will not hold those sins against you if you have faithfully repented. [And you may know that your repentance has been complete if you have confessed and forsaken the sin.] And finally, as you start to and continue to feel the Spirit grow and swell in your life, know that that is the sign, even the gift from our Heavenly Father, to let you know that your forgiveness is complete.
Of these things I bear my solemn witness. I bear testimony as well of the reality of the Living Christ, our Savior, the Redeemer of the World, our Advocate with the Father. In the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Bishop John Zowtiak, Albany 1st Ward
