Compassion and Forgiveness Interrelated

 

Dear Reader,

In recovery, few principles bring more healing than compassion and forgiveness. They are not separate virtues but two sides of the same coin: compassion softens the heart to see another’s pain, and forgiveness releases both the offender and the offended from bondage.

A story I read recently illustrates this well. JD Vance, now Vice President of the United States, wrote candidly in Hillbilly Elegy about his painful childhood and his mother’s struggle with addiction. His honesty shocked her, but it also became a turning point. Through hard conversations, mutual compassion, and her eventual sobriety, mother and son found a path toward forgiveness. As one article summarized: “JD Vance’s compassion for his mother is a testament to his ability to forgive – and the therapeutic power of it.”

I related deeply to that healing process. When two people extend compassion to each other, forgiveness becomes possible, and lives are transformed. As the Dalai Lama put it: “Compassion is the wish to see others free from suffering.”

Scripture reinforces this union of compassion and forgiveness. John reminds us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). Christ Himself taught Peter that forgiveness must go far beyond human calculation: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21–22).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland echoed this truth in our day: “Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet … True love lasts forever. It is the most powerful force in the world.” Compassion takes us out of ourselves, as Karen Armstrong explains: “In compassion, when we feel with the other, we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there.” And bell hooks reminds us that forgiveness is never blind: “How do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?”

The greatest example, of course, comes from the Savior on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

May we strive daily to live in that same spirit—seeing others through compassion, releasing them through forgiveness, and in the process, finding ourselves transformed and prepared for life in the Celestial Kingdom.

Amen.