Writing on the subject of forgiveness, Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then of the Council of the Twelve, cited passages from the Savior's Sermon on the Mount. (See Matt. 6:12, 14-15.)

Elder Kimball wrote: "Exaltation, the pinnacle of the proper desire of man, comes to him only if he is clean and worthy and perfected. Since man is weak and sinful, he must be cleansed before he can reach the exalted state of eternal life, and such cleansing from personal sins comes only through forgiveness following repentance."Since forgiveness is an absolute requirement in attaining eternal life, man naturally ponders: How can I best secure that forgiveness? One of many basic factors stands out as indispensable immediately: One must forgive to be forgiven. The Lord's prayer emphasizes this.

See Matt. 6:9-13.T

"The Savior immediately returned to His message as though He might not have emphasized it enough. Now He strengthened it in the positive as well as in the negative, giving reasons as well as the implied command.

" `For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.' (Matt. 6:14-15.)

"The Lord must have considered this basic. He had long before made the same statement to His people in the Western world through His great prophet, Alma, when it was given in comparable words: `And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor's trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation. (Mosiah 26:31.)' "

Elder Kimball emphasized that forgiveness must be sincere. "The command to forgive and the condemnation which follows failure to do so could not be stated more plainly than in this modern revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith: `My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.

" `Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

" `I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.' (D&C 64:8-10.)

"Note the Lord's comment about inadequate forgiveness on the part of His former-day disciples. Just what their sufferings were is not stated, but the penalties and chastisement were sore.

"The lesson stands for us today. Many people, when brought to a reconciliation with others, say that they forgive, but they continue to hold malice, continue to suspect the other party, continue to disbelieve the other's sincerity. This is sin, for when a reconciliation has been effected and when repentance is claimed, each should forgive and forget, build immediately the fences which have been breached, and restore the former compatibility." (The Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 261-264.)