Forgiveness - Galatians 6:1-2

6:1 - Now that Paul has thoroughly evaluated the motivations and methods of those who have tried to turn the Galatians against him, he reminds his audience "if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." What this means to me is to allow those who are wrong a chance to repent and have a place back in the gospel if they want it. I also like the last bit here which I take to mean, "remember that you've also made mistakes and been allowed to return to the gospel." It's really a good reminder that as much as we look down on what we consider the "sins" of others, we've also been guilty of "sins" that they've considered to be awful too. 6:2 - We've dissected the command to "bear one another's burdens" a lot of times because it's been commanded a lot of times, but let's consider it in the context of allowing those who have wronged you back into the gospel. I mean, really, it's not our place to decide whether or not someone can come back into the gospel or not, it's up to Jesus. But how do we bear someone else's burden when they wrong us? The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching, "my bother's burden which I must bear is not only his outward lot (and circumstances)… but quite literally his sin. And the only way to bear that sin is by forgiving it in the power of the cross of Christ in which (we) now share. Thus the call to follow Christ always means a call to share (in) the work of forgiving men their sins." It's so very hard to forgive when someone has wronged us, and especially when it's life altering abuse or neglect, etc. And I think that it's so easy to read the command to forgive and think, "I'm so stupid, why can't I just get over it," but I've been reminded in the last couple of weeks that sheer willpower isn't the only aspect necessary for forgiveness. I think that's the point, the point is that we can't forgive grievous sins on our own, we can't just "get over it" like some old stake president counsels you to do when you beg him for help moving on from your horrific childhood abuse. I still to this day have such anger towards him for telling me this, among other "sage advice" that he imparted to me when I was literally on the verge of implosion . Anyway, I clearly have my own forgiveness to work through, but I think that's the point. I don't think it is something that we are meant to just "do" on our own. It's a complex and deeply personal part of the healing process that can only come through the Savior. I'm going to have to think about this.