"Repentance isn't a process, it's a change. Not a checklist, but striving to become something better." -- Brother Jarom A. Price
Enjoy!
As Always,
Amanda
Repentance Process
In the
school of life, the courses of Repentance 101 and Forgiveness 101 are not
advisory courses, but they are required courses to “graduate” and obtain our
“degree”, our reward of eternal life and living in the presence of our Father
in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
There are 5 steps to true repentance and these five steps are:
1. We must recognize that we have done something
wrong
2. Confess our sins (and to the proper
priesthood authority if they are serious in nature)
3. Forsake our sins
4. Make restitution
5. Keep the commandments of the Lord
In Mosiah 4:10-11
we find the steps for true repentance,
10And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and
humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of
heart that he would forgive you;
and now, if you believe all
these things see that ye do them.
11And again I say unto you as I have said
before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye
have known of his goodness and have tasted of his
love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such
exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember,
and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you,
unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and
standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come,
which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
For me, there are
a few that seem appropriate to add to the repentance process. For me the steps
to true repentance are as follows:
1. Recognizing that we have sinned
2. Feel sorrow for our sins
3. Have faith in the Atonement of our Savior
4. Confess our sins (and to the proper
priesthood authority if they are serious in nature)
5. Forsake our sins
6. Make restitution wherever possible
7. Allowing ourselves time to prove that we are
truly working on abandoning our sins
8. Forgiving not only those who have hurt us but
forgiving ourselves
9. Keep the commandments of the Lord and
recommit ourselves to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ
10. Faithfully endure to the end
Step one of the repentance process is the hardest, but by recognizing
that we have sinned, we are allowing ourselves to admit that we have done
something wrong and that we need to repent. In Alma 42:29-30 we read of Alma’s
counsel to his son, Corianton,
29 And now, my son, I desire that ye should let
these things trouble you
no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall
bring you down unto repentance.
30 O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God no more. Do not endeavor to
excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice
of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his
long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the
dust in humility.
By recognizing
that we have sinned we are opening the door that will allow us to eventually
return to good standing in the church. If we do not recognize that we have
sinned we cannot repent and we are thereby preventing ourselves from partaking
of the blessing of the Atonement.
In step two we must feel sorrow for our sins. To feel true sorrow for
our sins we cannot just be sorry that we got caught, but we must truly feel
sorry for what we have done. In D&C 20:37, our Savior has said,
37 All those who humble themselves
before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and
contrite spirits, and … have truly repented of all their sins … shall be
received by baptism into his church.
But to just feel
sorrow for our sins is not enough. We cannot go at it with the attitude of “How
can I face my friends or family when they find out the things I’ve done?” We
must go at it with the attitude of “How can I look my Father in Heaven and my
Savior in the eye knowing the things that I have done, knowing that I have
caused my Savior unnecessary pain?” We must feel godly sorrow for the things we
have done. We read the words of Paul when he speaks about the difference
between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:10,
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be
repented of: but the sorrow of the
world worketh death.
We must come to
an understanding that we caused our Savior to suffer for what we have done and
realize that only feeling sorry because we were caught would only cause our
Savior even more pain.
Step three requires us to have faith in the Atonement of our Savior. To
have faith in the atonement of our Savior means to not just believe that we can
be forgiven through the Atonement but to come to a knowledge that our Savior
loves us so much that He willingly came to earth where He would be despised and betrayed, where He would atone for our
sins, suffer, bleed, and ultimately die to provide us with a way to return to
live with our Father in Heaven again. In Mosiah 3:19, King Benjamin preaches
the following words,
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has
been from the fall of Adam, and
will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings
of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh
a saint through the
atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble,
patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit
to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Then in Helaman 14:13, Samuel the Lamanite, preaches these words,
13 And if ye believe on his name ye
will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them
through his merits.
By allowing ourselves to have faith in the Atonement of our Savior, we
are taking the next step towards complete forgiveness.
Continuing on with step four, we must then
confess our sins. If the sin or sins we have committed are serious in nature,
we must confess them to the proper priesthood authority. By confessing our
sins we are again recognizing that we have done something wrong and that we
truly want to change our lives to align them once more with the teachings of
the Gospel. Also by confessing serious sins to the proper priesthood authority
we are allowing ourselves to gain support from another person who can bring
valuable insight to the situation we have found ourselves in. In D&C
61:2, our Savior has assured us that:
2 Behold, verily
thus saith the Lord unto you, O ye elders of my church, who are assembled upon
this spot, whose sins are now forgiven you, for I, the Lord, forgive sins, and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with
humble hearts.
When we confess our sins to the proper priesthood authority we can ask
for a priesthood blessing of comfort and strength. By confessing our sins to
the proper priesthood authority we are allowing ourselves to gain a better
understanding of what the Lord wants us to do in order to return to the fold.
The fifth step is to forsake our sins. To do
this we must make a commitment to turn away from the sins we have committed and
no longer have anything to do with them. By forsaking our sins we are allowing
ourselves to come to the understanding that to repeat any of the sins we have
committed would be causing our Savior only more pain and that we are not truly
repentant and sorry for the sins we have committed. The Savior has said in D&C
58:43,
43 By this ye may know if a
man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.
By doing this we allow ourselves to become closer to our Father in
Heaven as well as our Savior by allowing ourselves to know that we cannot let
our sins get in the way of our eternal salvation.
Step six requires us to make restitution wherever it is possible. By
making restitution, we are allowing ourselves to admit to others that we are
truly sorry for what we have done and that we truly want to do better than what
we have been doing. Also by making restitution we are confronting our sins in a
more open manner that will allow us to receive not only forgiveness from our
Savior, but the forgiveness of others as well. In Ezekiel 33:15-16, the prophet
Ezekiel speaks to us saying,
15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that
he had robbed, walk in the statutes of
life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he
hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful
and right; he shall surely live.
By doing this we
allow ourselves to open up about our sins and again gain the support of others
that can provide us with valuable insight.
After that, step seven provides us with time to prove that we are truly
abandoning our sins and that we won’t return to them. Allowing ourselves time
to prove that we are truly repentant also give us time to ponder on how we can
prevent ourselves from committing the same sins over again. It provides us with
not only time to study the scriptures and dedicate our lives to
the commandments we learn we must live to be happy and have joy, but time to prove to ourselves,
to our Lord, to our fellowmen that we have committed ourselves to a new way of
life as well. If we truly are repentant we cannot rush through the repentance
process because true repentance takes time.
Step eight is very important
in the repentance process. In step eight we must forgive those that have hurt
us. Our Savior has said in D&C
64:9-10,
9 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.
10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will
forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.
By forgiving others we allow ourselves to remove any ill
feeling we have for others. The Lord will not forgive us unless our hearts are
fully cleansed of all hate, bitterness, and bad feelings against other people.
Forgiving others is only half of what is necessary in step eight. We must also
forgive ourselves. If we are unable to forgive ourselves, we cannot expect to
be able to forgive others or allow others to forgive us. Forgiving ourselves is
very important because to deny ourselves forgiveness is the same as denying
another person forgiveness. A very good friend of mine once told me that to
deny someone your forgiveness to the equivalent to looking our Savior in the
eye and telling him that the Atonement wasn’t good enough. Forgiveness is what
we are working for when we start the repentance process, so naturally forgiving
others (and ourselves) must be one of the steps in the repentance process.
Step nine is very important
because it is where we recommit to keeping the commandments of our Savior as
well as recommit to living the Gospel. 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
repentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do not love
the Lord and our fellowmen. If we do not pray and are unkind to others, we are
surely not repentant. When we repent, our lives change. By once again
committing to live the Gospel and keep the commandments we allow ourselves to
become reacquainted with our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The last step, step ten, is
just as important as all the other steps. We must faithfully endure to the end.
To endure to the end means that we must make our way through life and remain
faithful to our Savior, by following the teachings of Alma in Mosiah 18:8-9,
8 And it came to pass that he
said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they
called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of
God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s
burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and
are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort
those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at
all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until
death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection,
that ye may have eternal life—
To faithfully endure to the end we must remain faithful no
matter what trials may come our way in this life. We must also realize that we
are given these trials from the purpose to prove ourselves to our Savior that
we will remain faithful no matter what.
For me, true repentance means
that no matter what sins I commit, short of denying the Holy Ghost, as long as
I am truly repentant, I can always be forgiven. Having this knowledge brings me
so much peace because it means that as long as I truly repent and remain
faithful, I will be able to be comforted and know that I have been forgiven and
someday return to my Father in Heaven and my Savior and be able to look them in
the eye and say just as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7,
7 I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, [and] I have kept the faith.
In the school of life, the
courses of Repentance 101 and Forgiveness 101 are not advisory courses, but
they are required courses to “graduate” and obtain our “degree”, our reward of
eternal life and living in the presence of our Father in Heaven and our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
