Day 4, April 10, 2011
Question: Do I really understand repentance?
Read: D&C 58:41-43
(41) And also he hath need to repent, for I, the Lord, am not well pleased with him, for he seeketh to excel, and he is not sufficiently meek before me.
(42) Behold, he how has repented of his sins, the same if forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
(43) By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins – behold, he will confess them and forsake them.
Mosiah 4:9-12
(9) “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
(10) “And 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.
(11) “And 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.
(12) “And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.”
Mosiah 2:38
“Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.”
Ponder: Have I truly sought forgiveness from the Lord? Do I really believe that He will forgive me?
Have I? In the big things, yes. In the little things, maybe not. I still drive too fast so I’m breaking the law of the land. I still have a tendency to covet my neighbor’s kitchen, so I’m breaking one of the Ten. I am not honoring this body with which I’ve been blessed – I’ve allowed it to become so slovenly. My excesses are breaking the Word of Wisdom. I haven’t sought forgiveness for that.
I continue to feel unworthy of His forgiveness. I need to take the step from believing IN Christ, to BELIEVING CHRIST. I want to work on that today, to allow Him to take on my sins and allow me to overcome them, because even the smallest sin will keep me from the gates of Heaven if I do it knowing I should not be doing it. I want to truly accept that Christ “will not forget thee …Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (1 Nephi 21:15-16).
2 comments:
Forgiveness is ongoing. I am sure we will never run out of things to seek forgiveness for so we have a lifetime to perfect the process.
Good point, Julie. It would be nice to be able to just get it all over with and live perfectly from then on. I guess if we could do that, one baptism and nothing more is all we'd need. But life doesn't work that way. We just keep on being human making human mistakes and trying our hardest to be good, but we all still are not perfect, and we all still have our own little issues to work on. That's where the Savior comes into play. Thankfully.
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