A Change of Perspective

Before my mission the word repentance had always had a negative connotation. When I thought of repentance I was clueless on what it actually meant. My understanding was that as we repented we were forgiven of our sins. But it also seemed to me that I needed to turn myself in whenever I did something bad. It just didn't seem like a pleasant experience to me. Repentance seemed like such an evil word.

But repentance it turns out is not a terrible word that means we are evil. Instead it means a change of heart and forming a fresh view of God. Repentance doesn't mean that we see ourselves as terrible human beings, but that we start to see that we can do much better than we are doing. We see that we are children of a Heavenly Father and that as children of a Heavenly Father we can change. That change comes through repentance.

When I realized that repentance helped me to grow closer to my Heavenly Father that made me a lot happier. But still I was kind of lost because I didn't know how to repent. The main reason being that no one had ever explained to me how to repent other than that I should say I was sorry to God.

But to repent is more than that. To repent we have to acknowledge that we have sinned. We can't pretend that we feel bad or say that we have sinned when we believe that we were in the right. We need to know that we have done is not in line with God's will. For example the Zoramites in the Book of Mormon had forgotten to pray to God always. They had to come to the realization that prayer was a commandment. When we are able to see the wrongs of our ways then we are able to move forward sincerely in the repentance process.

Along with acknowledging we have to be sorry for what we've done. God knows if we are truly sorry and there is no way to fool Him. So we must be sorry and let Him know in humble prayer that we have sinned and that we are asking for His forgiveness. When we can do this then He will provide us with the peace and comfort that we desire.

Now the first part of repentance was the part that scared me. It seemed hard to do and it meant to me that I had been caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing. So I always thought it was better just to mask or to hide those things that I had done wrong. But it's not the right way to do things because repentance doesn't mean that we just pay restitution it also gives us a way to change and become better.

Reading the story of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah helped me to change my view on repentance. Alma and his friends, the Sons of Mosiah, had been evil men. Together they had tried to lead others away from Christ. Yet they were called to repentance and because of this were able to change their ways. They were able to become great men and true leaders.

As we repent we begin to change our old ways. If we aren't praying we being to pray. If we aren't going to church we start going to church. We fix the problem. We become better people and we start to live up to our potential. We in the end become the person our Father wants us to be.

The road of repentance can seem long and difficult, but the end result is worth it. Let us travel this road and become who we can be. Let us exercise our faith in God and have Him help us to repent of our old ways. I can promise that He will provide a way for us to do that and that He and His Son Jesus Christ will never fail us.