Here’s a link to the lesson in the manual https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-new-testament-2023/17?lang=eng
What Shall I do to Inherit Eternal Life?
This episode addresses forgiveness AGAIN because I needed to hear it AGAIN. And apparently so do you or else they wouldn’t have put this in again 16 weeks later…
I also talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan and the experience of Mary and Martha.
Two quotes from Elder David E. Sorensen’s talk, “Forgiveness Will Change Bitterness to Love.”
“Joseph’s brothers jealously hated him. They plotted to take his life and finally sold him as a slave. Joseph was carried into Egypt and struggled for years to rise from slavery. During these challenging times, Joseph might have condemned his brothers and sworn revenge. He might have soothed his pain by scheming to get even someday. But he did not.
In time, Joseph became ruler over all of Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh. During a devastating famine, Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt for food. Not recognizing Joseph, they bowed down to him because of his high position. Surely at that moment, Joseph had the power to exact revenge. He might have put his brethren in prison or sentenced them to death. Instead he confirmed his forgiveness. He said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither. … And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity … and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God.”
Later he said, “I would like to make it clear that forgiveness of sins should not be confused with tolerating evil. … Although we must forgive a neighbor who injures us, we should still work constructively to prevent that injury from being repeated”
Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, former Relief Society General President, taught: “Mary and Martha are you and me. … These two loved the Lord and wanted to show that love. On this occasion, it seems to me that Mary expressed her love by hearing His word, while Martha expressed hers by serving Him. … Jesus did not dismiss Martha’s concern, but instead redirected her focus by saying choose ‘that good part.’ And what is that? … The one thing that is needful is to choose eternal life [see 2 Nephi 2:28]. We choose daily” (“Choosing Charity: That Good Part,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 104).