Repentance

Sis. Joyce Bond gave our lesson this week and did a great job. This lesson was on Repentance, something we all need. She reminded us that we should be repenting daily for all those little things that bog us down. So many times we think repentance is only needed for those "big" things but none of us are perfect and throughout the day we do daily things that are not perfect in the eyes of the Lord, such as pride, judging others, yelling at our children, etc. Previously in our Sunday School lesson the teacher asked us how many of us were ready for the second coming...very few-if any- raised their hands. But then he asked us how many of us had temple recommends and most-if not all- raised their hands. He then said, if we are worthy and ready to enter the temple then why are we not ready to welcome the Savior? What's the difference. There really isn't a difference. To which somebody responded that they were nervous about all of the little things that they could be doing or not doing. So, that's where repentance comes in. We can always be doing a little bit better than we are. There will always be something to improve upon. Then there was another great comment that brought me great peace. He said that it doesn't matter how perfect we are, but that we are on the right path and going in the right direction. So even if I'm not as perfect as Pres. Monson, I'm on the same path and I'm following his example...I just may not be as far along on the path as he is.

So, with that brief explanation, let's move on to the rest of our lesson. We talked about the principles of repentance. Let's review:

1) We must recognize our sins: "To repent, we must admit to ourselves that we have sinned. If we do not admit this, we cannot repent. In Alma we read 'Let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance....Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point.' (Alma 42:29-30) We should not justify our sins and make excuses."

2)We must feel sorrow for our sins: " In addition to recognizing our sins, we must feel sincere sorrow for what we have done. We must feel that our sins are terrible. We must want to unload and abandon them." And I would add that feeling "Godly sorrow" is very different from feeling "sorry." When you feel Godly sorrow you feel so unworthy, horrible, you want to crawl in a hole and die. You wish that the earth would just swallow you up and hide you and put you out of your misery. And yes I am speaking from personal experience. That experience alone has made me feel that I will NEVER do what I did again. Just saying sorry and promising not to do it again doesn't work if you truly do not feel sorrow.

3)We must forsake our sins: "Our sincere sorrow should lead us to forsake (stop) our sins....THe Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins-behold, he will confess them and forsake them" (D&C 58:43).

4)We must confess our sins: "...The Lord has commanded us to confess our sins. Confession relieves a heavy burden from the sinner. The Lord has promised, "I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts" (D&C 61:2). We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we must confess serious sins...which might affect our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. If we have sinned against another person, we should confess to the person we have injured. Some less serious sins involve no one but ourselves and the Lord. These may be confessed privately to the Lord.

5)We must make restitution: Part of repentance is to make restitution. This means that as much as possible we must make right any wrong that we have done....As we do these things, God will not mention our sins to us when we are judged.

6)We must forgive others: A vital part of repentance is to forgive those who have sinned against us. The Lord will not forgive us unless our hearts are fully cleansed of all hate, bitterness, and bad feelings against other people. "Wherefor, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemnd bfore the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin" (D&C 64:9).

7) We must keep the commandments of God: "To make our repentance complete we must keep the commandments of the Lord. We are not fully repentant if we do not pay tithes or keep the Sabbath day holy or obey the Word of Wisdom. We are not prepentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do not love the Lord and our fellow men. If we do not pray and are unkind to others, we are surely not repentant."

"As we repent, the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes fully effective in our lives, and the Lord forgives our sins. We become free from the ####### of our sins, and we find joy."
Alma's experience of repentance is so beautiful. I encourage you all to read it in the scriptures (Alma 36:12-14, 17-21)

"The prophets have declared that 'this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God' (Alma 34:34). We should repent now, every day. When we get up in the morning, we should examine ourselves to see whether the Spirit of God is with us. At night before we go to sleep, we should review our acts and words of the day and ask the Lord to help us recognize the things for which we need to repent. By repenting every day and having the Lord forgive our sins, we will experience the daily process of becoming perfect. As with Alma, our happiness and joy can sweet and exquisite."