Forgiveness?

Question

How do I deprogram the Mormon's belief that God won't forgive me? I was prosecuted for attempting to murder my mother when I was an abused kid. The mormon church I tried joining after I was released gave me an extreamly hard time about it. They made me feel like I was going to hell and that God would not forgive me until they did. I ended up in the mental hospital twice. I had a nervous break down and couldn't go to the store to buy food because I was afraid of getting in a reck and dying and going to hell. I'm not sure how to deprogram this distorted verion of Jesus' atonement.

Answer 1

there is nothing you can do to change the past , the best thing that you can do for yourself is to move forward, I truly believe that whatever God oversees things is not going to" judge people by the book" you sound like a tortured soul; just remember that if you were evil you wouldn't care what you have done to hurt others in your life , the shear fact that you care says something about your character

Answer 2

Well, it doesn't look like any other Mormons have answered so I can give you my two cents... and I promise I am being sincere...

What did they give you a hard time about? Repenting? The sin itself? Was it your bishop? Other members?
We do believe in certain steps of repentance, maybe that is what you were struggling with?
Like some others stated, it isn't the 'church' or the leaders who forgive you, it is the Lord...but like I said, there are steps to repentance and forgiveness...
I am sorry that you had such a bad experience and that you had a hard childhood. No one should have to go through awful things as I am sure you have.
We don't decide or even know who will be forgiven of what. That is between you and the Lord...
I wish you well.

Answer 3

Try and find a good Christian counselor to talk to and I will add a prayer for your healing later. Forgiveness is hard and you have been through alot but maybe someday you can help others that have been there or help keep others from where you went with your testimony... wish I could be more help... there are many books on suffering and Jesus's saving grace but I have some favourites and those that have been recommended.

There are the 4 books I am going to suggest you find and read. I will take a minute and see if I can find some links.

The Bondage Breaker
http://cgi.ebay.ca/The-Bondage-Breaker-by-Neil-T-Anderson-1990_W0QQitemZ330169726905QQihZ014QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The Greatest Thing in the World - Henry Drummond
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Greatest-Thing-in-the-World-by-Henry-Drummond_W0QQitemZ150163939806QQihZ005QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
* any Christian books store will have it.

The Bible - especially the Gospel of John.

God Bless
Todd

* e-bay or abebooks are worth a look for the first 2 if they aren't in a local store.

Answer 4

My heart aches for you, not only having to deal with your past but then to have others put you down and continue to make you feel guilty is just unbelievable.

I had a very painful past much different than yours but something I didn't deal with until years later and I remember how I cried through one whole summer, trying to heal ~ and I did although it did take a while. Having a strong church support group is a big plus and thankfully, I did have that and was able to heal and move on.

Definitely stay away from any "church" who doesn't teach what the Bible teaches. You have to make up your mind that you can and will move on but you do need to have others around who can help you with this ~ but you need to find people who are compassionate, loving and willing to be there for you.

Jesus is more than willing to forgive you if you do His will and follow His commandments. There are 6 steps to salvation so email me if you'd like to know more. Believe in yourself and know that with God, you can do anything :) Keeping you in prayer.

Answer 5

I have some reservation over the use of the word "deprogram" because as humans all of us are not robots and we are free to make choices and decisions in life. :)

Anyway, in order for you to move on, I think you must first convince yourself 100% that the mormon's teaching about forgiveness is all WRONG.

And you need to embrace the RIGHT teaching of the Bible about forgiveness (i.e. Jesus/God died on the cross for you so that ALL your past, present and future sins are forgiven and you can have direct relationship with God).

You must aslo acknowledge the fact that today there are countless of different "christian" denominations which teach different/contradicting "biblical" doctrines/teachings/practices.

So you must be very cautious as well.

Thus, I would encourage you to pray to God... never underestimate the power of prayer.

Personally, I can help you find a church in your area to help you start afresh in the RIGHT way. We all need friends to help us in life... :) Just email me at [e-mail]

God bless! :)

Answer 6

Get some books about how cults program and some on how to deprogram. The worst thing you could do is get enmeshed in some kind of religious doctrine right now. You can also probably find websites and talk with other people who were in cults. Good luck.

Answer 7

I just want to support and not judge you for your life. I was an elem teacher and I know how abused kids can be, they go thru some hellish things and then people feel free to judge their bad behavior without knowing what hell they went thru. But the best news is that God knows, God knows your heart and He knows. We all do icky things and God knows why, we just have to turn to Him in great sorrow and tell him you are sorry and the hardest part is forgiving yourself ! I counselor said to me once, it is hard to think we could be so bad and that is often the part that remains and causes us all this ick you have been thru.hang in there, everyone else is messedup too, there are no hallmark lives, only on TV I will pray for you

Answer 8

Well, for one my friend, the Mormons are a cult in my opinion.
Only God can give absolute forgiveness.
The Bible says "Ask anything in my name and it shall be given to you". When you ask Jesus or God for forgiveness and mean it in your heart, your sin is forgiven.
If you watch news reports about the Mormons you'll see how screwed up their religion really is.
Look at the scandal with the leader of their cult Jeff's, up on assisted rape charges.
They turn their own young men out (lost boys) because they are a threat to the older men for multi-marriage young women.
They select your bride.
They take names of the dead from other religions and with a proxy baptize them. Who gave them the right?
In my opinion you can't go wrong with the Salvation Army. They are not judgemental, they are caring, understanding, empathetic souls from different walks of life and denominations. They serve all of man regardless of colour, creed, etc. They also have free counselling service for those who ask. Check them out and you are not obligated.
Take my advice, don't walk away from the Mormons . . . RUN!!!

Answer 9

If this is what happened to you. Then you should seek counseling or a support group. Start reading some books relating to religious programing. God will forgive you. Just lead a good life from now on. I'm sure that you will be fine if you have hope.

Answer 10

As the rest of the group has said, get away from the Mormon's. God does forgive..All you need to do is ask Him for forgiveness. Your sins will be forgiven. And they will be as far from you as the east is from the west! Get yourself a Bible and look up forgiveness in the index. You'll find many verses on forgiveness..God loves you..