The Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum lesson this week bears the same name as the title of one of my favorite books – The Miracle of Forgiveness (by, who else? President Kimball!). I am really looking forward to studying and hearing this lesson.
As I read the first segment, “From the Life of Spencer W. Kimball”, I was touched by the woman who had no hope. According to President Kimball, “hope is…the great incentive for repentance, for without it no one would make the extended effort required.” Well, it certainly cannot be argued that full and total, leaving-the-sin repentance is easy; it does take work and effort.
But the part that caught my eye was the mention of hope. (It also left me wishing I had my copy of “Lectures on Faith” by Joseph Smith, currently in storage; if anyone would like to share some of the great faith/hope quotes, I would be highly appreciative!) Without hope, there is no reason to repent. If we don’t hope for a better world, a better life, a better relationship with our Savior, then we have no motivation to repent and change our lives.
Lacking the Prophet’s book, I decided to take the next step, and turned to the scriptures. I examined Moroni 7:42: “If a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there can be no hope.” So if we lack faith, we have no hope. Faith, in fact, leads to hope.
When we have faith in Christ, when we have faith in the atonement, we can hope to be worthy of standing in the presence of our Heavenly Father again. We can’t hope for the celestial kingdom if we don’t have faith that it exists.
At the same time, we cannot have faith and not have hope. If we truly have faith in the atonement, we must be able to hope for a better (spiritual) life for ourselves. On the other hand, if we don’t have that hope, it is because we don’t believe that Christ can heal us. In short, we don’t have sufficient faith in Him.
Faith and hope are required in order for a person to be motivated to repent. No one will repent if they don’t hope that things will improve. No wonder we are frequently counseled to build our faith. Perhaps, too, we should pray and work for hope. Or, should I say, hope for hope.
Related Articles:
General Conference: “I Will Remember Your Sins No More”
General Conference: “The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness”