There is no principle of the gospel more important than repentance. At least that is what the Lord seems to be saying in the scriptures. Several times He instructed His servants to “say nothing but repentance unto this generation” (D&C 6:9; 11:9; see also 19:21). Does He mean that literally? Is every topic of all the missionary lessons supposed to be repentance? Does repentance have to be the subject of every Church classroom discussion? Of course not. Why did He say it that way, then? The Lord was using a figure of speech called hyperbole, which is an intentional exaggeration to emphasize a point. He said it in a hyperbolic way to stress the fact that there is nothing more important in all the gospel than to get people to repent. This one principle is so vital that it towers above all others in primacy and urgency. Driven by faith, repentance is the single most important principle to live in order to make the Savior’s Atonement effective and meaningful in our lives. Repentance is not just feeling guilty for having sinned, nor is it mere “forgetfulness,” pushing the sin way back in our mind to conveniently not be reminded of it. It is an attitude change, and a behavior change. We repent not only of sins, but of sinning, and we are willing to do whatever is necessary to remove the stain and the pain. We turn to the Savior. He is the only one who can take away our sins, because He paid the price for them. Godly sorrow and suffering are necessary In true repentance, godly sorrow and suffering are necessary. According to the scriptures, if you haven’t suffered, you haven’t repented. We have all been through the anguish; sometimes we feel like pounding our head against the wall, wondering how we could be so foolish as to do the sinful things we do. We hurt inside. And it is not just guilt for being caught, or feeling the embarrassment for having to confess. It is godly sorrow we are feeling. Years ago I saw a painting in an old Instructor magazine, entitled “Turning Toward the Light.” It made quite an impression on me. It portrays the stages a person goes through to be totally rid of his or her sins—from the agonizing pain of darkness, to the glimmer of hope and recognition that there is a Light we can turn to, then fully committing to dedicate ourselves to that Light. Who is it in scripture that comes to your mind who has given us the most detailed, the most graphic portrayal of the pains of a damned soul? You probably think first of Alma the Younger, and we are glad that he was willing to divulge, and actually carve into the record, those intimate and agonizing details of what he went through to be forgiven of his sins (see Mosiah 27:28-29 and Alma 36:12-17.) He described wading through tribulation, the bitterness, the bonds, the abyss, and the inexpressible horror at the thought of having to stand before God and answer for all he had done. Alma wrote that he was “harrowed up” by the memory of his many sins. What is a harrow? Those involved in cultivating field crops know that it is an implement that is dragged behind an animal (and now behind a tractor) to break up the hard ground for planting. If a harrow were dragged over a live body, it would certainly become an instrument of torture. Alma also wrote that he was racked with torment. What is a rack? An instrument of torture. Alma chose his words intentionally; he was tortured by his sins, just as the man portrayed in the painting. Alma later taught his own wayward son, one who was sinning grievously while serving a mission: “let your sins trouble you”—meaning what? Let your sins bother you to bring you down to severe depression? No, Alma said “let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance” (Alma 42:29). Be glad to suffer the godly sorrow now so you won’t have to suffer the full effects of your sins later. Confession is necessary President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “No one can ever be forgiven of any transgression until there is repentance, and one has not repented until he has bared his soul and admitted his intentions and weaknesses without excuses or rationalizations. He must admit to himself that he has grievously sinned. When he has confessed to himself without the slightest minimizing of the offense, or rationalizing its seriousness, or soft-pedaling its gravity, and admits it is as big as it really is, then he is ready to begin his repentance” (“Love Versus Lust,” Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, Provo, Utah, Jan. 5, 1965, 10.) We have a worry these days. Many in this generation seem to be growing up with the carefree attitude, “I can sin now, and I can always repent later; it only takes a few months of waiting and I can go on a mission, or I can go to the Temple.” But Elder Richard G. Scott warned: “The thought of intentionally committing serious sin now and repenting later is perilously wrong. . . . Premeditated sin has greater penalties and is harder to overcome” (Ensign, Nov. 1994, 38-39). We must confess and forsake our sins now, and not put off our repentance. Alma warned not to procrastinate the day of our repentance. As the old rabbis used to say: you cannot repent the day before you die, because you don’t know what day you will die. When we returned to Utah in the summer of 2000 after our mission in Chile, we found our oldest daughter dating a young man named McKell, a lively returned missionary who was also involved in theater programs at Brigham Young University. He was a fairly frequent visitor in our home, and we came to like him. That Fall our daughter was awakened one Sunday morning to hear some terrible news. Her friend McKell had been visiting a cousin along the Oregon coast, and the two of them were far out on a pier when a storm came up suddenly and swept them off into the water. Source: LDSmag
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 06:00:01 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015