Of Peter the Savior asked "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Without hesitation, and with characteristic surety, Peter responded "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." I have always loved Peter. Impetuous, impatient, imperfect -- and yet powerful -- Peter. Peter, who walked on water. Peter, who thrice denied the Christ. Peter, whose path along the road of discipleship was seldom, if ever, easy. There is so much that resembles Peter in each of us, and much that we can learn from his example and from his relationship with the Savior.
There have been times in my life in which I have had occasion to ask, when is it enough? How many disappointments is one too many? At what point is someone who has disappointed me over and over again undeserving of my trust? In pondering these questions I have reflected on the Savior's relationship with Peter, of whom the Savior had reason to ask "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?' and "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" The Savior of mankind is no stranger to disappointment, but his love of each and every one of us far outweighs whatever personal injury or disappointment he might suffer due to our choices, actions, neglect, or ingratitude. Just as he did with Peter, Christ stands ready to freely forgive our faults and to allow us every opportunity to grow and reach our eternal potential, even when it means we will make disappointing choices along the way. How different would Peter -- and the world -- have been had the Savior withheld those precious opportunities to lead and to serve? How different would those around us and our relationships with them be if we refused to allow them opportunities to grow because they had hurt or disappointed us in the past?
Repentance and forgiveness for our own sins is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of others for their trespasses against us is similarly an act of faith in the Atonement. While offenses may temporarily shake our faith in an individual, it must never lead us to doubt the efficacy or enabling power of the Atonement, through which we know that those who have wronged us can change and become better, just as it does for us.
Forgiveness is also an act of charity. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon teaches us that we obtain "hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal … because of [our] faith in him..." Faith in Jesus Christ and in the power of his atonement to heal and change us is what gives us hope for eternal life. When we have obtained a hope for eternal life for ourselves, the next step in our progression is to extend that hope to those around us. Charity is laboring for the eternal welfare of our brothers and sisters, having hope that they will receive eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God, and having the faith that it is possible through Jesus Christ. Charity encompasses labors of love such as parenting, missionary service, temple work, and home and visiting teaching. Indeed, the Lord has said that "this is [His] work and [His] glory: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Could there be a more perfect example of charity than our Savior, who devoted his life, labor, and sacrifice to allowing us to have eternal life? And if He, "who has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…[who] was wounded for our transgressions… [and] bruised for our iniquities" and with whose "stripes we are healed," is anxious to forgive us and provide us with opportunities to learn, grow, and change, how much more should we love and forgive others and provide them with those same opportunities?
When the Savior asked Peter if he loved him, he also extended Peter the invitation: "Feed my sheep." This invitation was not only a call to serve and care for the Lord's flock, but an invitation for Peter to learn, to repent, and to magnify his potential through service. It is indicative of the Savior's love and willingness to forgive. It is an example of how anxious the Lord is to trust us with opportunities and responsibilities that will help us reach our potential, sometimes in spite of -- or perhaps because of -- imperfections and past mistakes. In so doing, he teaches us how we need to treat one another. To the question of when we should stop loving someone who has disappointed us, he answers with a resounding never.
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