Maybe I say this too often lately, but I
think it’s important to think about:
Every member of our church is either a convert or a descendant of a
convert. What that means to me is that
we all come with a mix of cultural backgrounds and traditions, of other
religious teachings (or lack of), along with influences of the society and the neighborhood
we are raised in. This makes it so important that we filter between those and
actual church doctrine. We need to
continually study the words of the prophets and the scriptures so we know the
difference. This is also a very good
reason to be understanding, compassionate, and forgiving of others. Sometimes we need to set aside what think we
know or what we think we have observed and concluded and instead open our minds
and hearts to the teachings of the spirit.
I’m hoping I share today what the Lord would have me share with you.
Today I’ve been asked to speak on the topic
of repentance…and the miracle of forgiveness, but often the word repentance
stirs up a number of thoughts ranging from defense, moaning and groaning, tuning out,
worrying too much about what things you MUST need to repent of if God is
sending you this message, not worrying enough, or thoughts of other people who could really use
this lesson. So maybe we can pretend we
don’t really know that much about repentance for a moment and sort of start
over.
According to the Bible Dictionary:
The Greek
word of which [repentance] is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh
view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into
conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and
will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined.
Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation,
for all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to
enter the kingdom of heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a
commandment of God (D&C 18:9–22; 20:29; 133:16).
Why are there so many scriptures commanding us to repent? I think the first sentence gives us a big
part of the answer. “a change of mind, a
fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world.”
I really like that sentence. A fresh view of the world, a fresh view of
myself, a fresh view of God- just saying fresh three times causes me to feel
refreshed. I also think of a renewed
hope and gratitude in and for humanity,
for the beautiful creations of the earth, and the poetry of God’s plan
for us. It’s about changing and
improving for the better. We so often
when hearing the word “sin”, think of horrible things. It can be, and stagnating can be horrible
too, but we shouldn’t get so caught up in that.
We should be focused on always improving. Our purpose here on earth is to become like
Christ and like God our Father. Of
course to do that we need to be changing all the time. Repentance is this changing process and
finding ways to improve. It’s making our
weaknesses strengths and staying humble so our strengths don’t become our
weaknesses.
I like Moroni’s words in Ether 12. In verses 23-25 he expresses his concerns
about his weakness. He worries his writing is no match for the understanding he
has been given and fears it will be
mocked.
Verses 26-28, & 37 say:
And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto
me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for
the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto
them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my
grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they
humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things
become strong unto them.
28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their
weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto
me—the fountain of all righteousness.
37 “thou
hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because
thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting
down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.”
From these verses we can learn some
important things about repentance. Recognizing
a weakness. Admitting it. Being concerned about it and having a desire
to change. Talking to Our Father in
Heaven about it through prayer. Trusting
Him to help us.
We also see that God answered in a loving
way. He does that for us too. He has
open loving arms to give us giant hugs and wants to see us succeed. When we listen He teaches us. Then we can
share what we learned with others by writing it down like Moroni; strengthening each other’s testimonies and
encouraging each other to keep going instead of dragging each other down or
simply complaining and never doing anything about it.
Moroni continues (in verses 29-36) to share
examples to the Lord of how he has seen the Lord work miracles for the
faithful, the importance of hope, and Christ’s greatest example of His love,
charity, even sacrificing His life for all people. We can also learn from
Moroni’s example the importance of gratitude in repentance and communicating
with Our Father in Heaven and our Savior.
It’s in our weaknesses that we see the need
for faith, hope, and charity. It’s in
our weaknesses and overcoming them that we have the opportunity to see faith,
hope, and charity work. This is
repentance and it brings us closer to being like Christ, to having those
qualities. It is the process of
understanding the atonement. It’s after
admitting our weaknesses and mistakes, recognizing we have them, that we can
have compassion and mercy for others making mistakes. We can put ourselves in another’s position,
and love them, and forgive them. It’s
through our “godly sorrow” that we can learn “godly forgiveness”.
Sometimes this can seem so hard. Maybe especially the first time we realize we
need to repent of things and we aren’t really familiar with how all of this
works, or maybe just out of practice. Maybe
we are embarrassed or afraid. We try so
hard, especially as teenagers, but I think still as adults too, to prove we are
capable, smart, and intelligent and not a little kid anymore, but we are in so
many ways still young children figuring everything out. We are.
Mark 2:17 says,
“When Jesus
heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the
physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.
Is there anyone who is not in need of our
Savior as physician?
James 5: 15
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and
pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
Sometimes it might seem hard because our
experiences apologizing to other people don’t go well. We might not have been forgiven by them. We might not feel the peace or understanding
we were hoping for. Our Father in Heaven
is different. The Savior is
different. They are ready and wanting to
forgive you and are able to look upon the heart. Turning to the Lord reaps a sweet reward of love
and peace and calm. It takes hope and
faith and courage to experiment with repentance and forgiveness. With a leap of faith we do it and then we
come to understand a tiny bit and see the atonement work in our lives. We feel the peace that is promised. Like everything, practice makes it easier and
strengthens our faith and hope even to potentially becoming knowledge. The sooner we repent of things bothering us,
the sooner we take our discouragements of any kind to the Lord, and let Him
carry our burdens, the sooner we allow The Holy Spirit’s cleansing fire to work
within us to feel the peace and strength to overcome our shortcomings.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
Mosiah 5:2
And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which
thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because
of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us,
or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good
continually.
The
Savior’s atonement, His grace and mercy is for all of us. He suffered all that each of us suffer. He knows us all very well and carried that
weight for us. It is done, it has happened. The price has been paid. It is only for us to accept His gift. Sometimes I’ve heard people talk about trying
so hard not to make any mistakes so they don’t make Christ suffer more. I don’t believe that somehow there is a time
warp where Christ’s pain is made worse every time you mess up. Don’t intentionally make mistakes, but don’t
rob yourself of the sweet joy of being forgiven. Don’t rob yourself of the joy of overcoming a
weakness. Don’t give yourself guilt
before even doing anything wrong when repentance is there to relieve the guilt,
to have a change of heart, of self, and understanding. Also, putting off
repentance by ignoring a problem you know is there or justifying it is
disregarding the atonement and only putting off your happiness. Why needlessly
suffer when Our Father in Heaven has open arms just waiting to hug you and help
you?
D&C 18:
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore
he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that
he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And
how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
In the July Ensign there is an article
titled Becoming Perfect in Christ. Elder
Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy says,
His atoning
love, freely given, is as “milk and honey, without money and without price” (2
Nephi 26:25). Infinite and eternal (see Alma 34:10), the Atonement invites us
to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:32).
Understanding
the Savior’s freely given atoning love can free us from self-imposed,
incorrect, and unrealistic expectations of what perfection is. Such
understanding allows us to let go of fears that we are imperfect—fears that we
make mistakes, fears that we are not good enough, fears that we are a failure
compared to others, fears that we are not doing enough to merit His love.
The Savior’s
freely given atoning love helps us become more forgiving and less judgmental of
others and of ourselves. This love heals our relationships and gives us
opportunities to love, understand, and serve as our Savior would.
His atoning
love changes our concept of perfection. We can put our trust in Him, diligently
keep His commandments, and continue in the faith (see Mosiah 4:6)—even as we
also feel greater humility, gratitude, and dependence on His merits, mercy, and
grace (see 2 Nephi 2:8).
I loved the whole article, and highly
recommend reading it if you have the chance, but I want to emphasize the
healing power of love. That as we
repent, as we have a fresh view on God, ourselves, and the world, we feel the
Savior’s love and Father in Heaven’s love, we gain understanding of the
atonement, we become more aware of Christ’s role, we become more compassionate
and merciful ourselves and we then become more like our Savior and our Father
in Heaven.
Proverbs 26:13 says, He that covereth his sins
shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. This is
saying we will be forgiven, but I think it is also saying we will have mercy as
a part of us, helping us as we experience mercy to be merciful.
Matt 5: 7; 3
Nephi 12:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. It goes
back and forth.
I want to let you know that I have
experienced the sweetness of forgiveness and the love of our Father and of our
Savior. I have also seen beauty of
forgiving others. I won’t lie, sometimes
it’s been very hard for me, but repentance and forgiveness are beautiful
experiences. In the name of Jesus Christ
Amen.
