Frankly Forgive

I started re-reading the Book Of Mormon again this week, as it is what we will be studying in Sunday School this year.  I read it every day regardless of what we are studying in SS, but it always feel different when we are studying it together as a ward.  It is a testimony to me that every time we read the BOM we learn new things, regardless of how many times we read it.  This time around I have made it a priority to catch commandments or phrases that tell us to do things, like repent, arise, go and do, etc.  The other day I was reading in 1Nephi where Nephi's brothers bound him with cords.  Nephi prayed and the Lord loosed them.  The thing that stuck out to me was in Chapter 7 after his brothers had asked Nephi for his forgiveness in verse 20.  He says in verse 21, "I did frankly forgive them all that they had done.  I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness."  He forgave them and then told them to go to the Lord and repent.  I have thought of the phrase "frankly forgive" several times in the past few days since reading this.  How many times do I frankly forgive when someone offends me, judges me, or hurts my feelings?  I am rather quick to forgive most times or at least I think I am, but sometimes I let the thought linger.  In other words, I'm not frankly forgiving, if I let it linger.  I need to work on this and hope that I can improve in this aspect.  The thing I love about Nephi is that he forgave them in that instant and never brought it up again.  To me, forgiving someone means to never bring up the offense again, never throwing it back into their faces again.  We never read in the scriptures where Nephi holds a grudge against his brothers, even though they did such mean things to him.  He forgave them and felt bad for their wrong choices.
I went to a fireside tonight on Scripture Study.  It was a wonderful fireside.  I didn't hear anything that I didn't know, but was reminded of things that maybe I need to work on.  Here are some of the notes I took:  Great things happen with daily scripture study.  There is power in the scriptures when we read them.  Helamen 5:12 teaches as long as you have a foundation of anything including scripture study, you can always rebuild.  Do I feast on the words of Christ or do I nibble?  We can call upon God and receive strength no matter where we are.  The scriptures have real answers to real life questions and problems.  Scriptures transform people.  When decisions include the scriptures good things happen.  Our conditions don't determine our destiny, our decisions determine our destiny.  In Joshua 1 the words be strong and of a good courage are repeated 4 times.
As I was listening to this talk tonight, I thought of the many times where answers to my prayers came as I was studying my scriptures, listening to uplifting music, and studying talks from general conference.  How grateful I am for the direction I have in my life through prayer and scripture study.