None of us are perfect. We all do stupid things. We all have regrets. We all need to be better. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). None of us can return to live with God in our sinful state. It's a good thing our loving Heavenly Father provided a Savior for us! Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with God again!
As we learn more about Jesus Christ, we can increase our faith in Him. You can read my post about faith to learn more about that. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will want to follow Him. Our faith in Christ and our love for Him lead us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will. As we repent, we improve ourselves and become more Christ-like.
We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ's mercy, and we receive Christ's mercy only on conditions of repentance. It is only by grace that we are saved, but we are still expected to do our part in order to access that grace.
So how do we repent? It's very simple. Actually it's as easy as ABC...and D. Here are the steps of repentance in their most basic form:
A. Admit. We need to recognize and admit to ourselves that we have sinned.
B. Be sorry. We need to feel remorse or godly sorrow. We shouldn't feel bad just because we may have gotten caught or have negative consequences. We should feel bad because we know what we did was wrong. This is true for any sin -- big or small.
C. Confess. Next we confess our sins to God. We also confess very serious sins to God's authorized Church leaders, who can help us repent. We ask God in prayer to forgive us.
D. Don't do it again. Finally we need to commit to not do that sin again. We also do all we can to correct the problems our actions may have caused; this is called restitution.
And there you go! Now you have successfully repented of your sin(s). You may have noticed that for Confess I mentioned that you only need to confess to Church leaders if it's a serious sin like a crime or adultery. Repentance is between you and God and you have every right to go directly to God to ask for His forgiveness. You will know you are forgiven when you feel His love and peace come over you and you no longer have guilt.
Repentance brings a change in us. As we repent we can feel God's forgiveness and His peace enters our lives. We realize that we really our His children and that He loves us and is always waiting for us to repent and turn back to Him. Our guilt and sorrow are swept away. We feel the influence of His Spirit in greater abundance. And when we leave this life, we will be more prepared to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son.
We never need to feel like we aren't worthy of His love or can't go to Him because that will never be true. We can always go to our loving Father in Heaven for forgiveness, direction, and love. "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!"(D&C 18:13)
Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may fall short again. We should continually repent and try to correct these transgressions. That means repenting every day. I think most of us don't commit gross sins every day, but we all need God's help to become better. As we repent every day, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and behavior will become more Christlike. We will find joy in repenting daily.
I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to repent. Repentance has allowed me to overcome some of my bad habits and helped me to feel relief from my guilt over past wrongs. Repentance allows us to be cleansed from sin and become even more like Jesus Christ. Repenting is awesome.
"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more"(D&C 58:42).
Amen.
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