Go to this link and read or listen to Elder D. Todd Christofferson's latest talk on repentance. It is one of the best I've ever heard on the subject. What is one thing that sticks out to you in this talk?
http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/the-divine-gift-of-repentance?lang=eng
I like how it says that we live in a time like Nehor and Korihor's. One because we have people like them today that are leading people to do wickedness, and another because we are preparing for Christ to come to the Earth (again). That's one thing that stuck out to me.
ReplyDeleterepentance means striving to change
ReplyDelete"When we repent, we feel godly sorrow, then we stop doing things that are wrong and continue doing things that are right...
ReplyDelete"As we change, we recognize that we are children of God and that we need not continue making the same mistakes over and over. If we sincerely repent, we turn away from our sins and do them no more" (Preach My Gospel, p. 62).
These statements in "Preach My Gospel," add to what Amulek taught Zeezrom in the city of Ammonihah, "that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them IN their sins, but to redeem them FROM their sins" (Helaman 5:10).
This is hard doctrine because it requires work and real repentance. We have a hope in the Savior, Jesus Christ, that He will forgive us as we truly repent, even if it takes us years to conquer some of our sins and weaknesses.
But, we ought not be discouraged as we try to repent. Listen to what Elder Christofferson taught, "Perhaps as much as praying for mercy, we should pray for time and opportunity to work and strive and overcome. Surely the Lord smiles upon one who desires to come to judgment worthily, who resolutely labors day by day to replace weakness with strength. Real repentance, real change may require repeated attempts, but there is something refining and holy in such striving. Divine forgiveness and healing flow quite naturally to such a soul, for indeed “virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; [and] mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own” (D&C 88:40)" (The Divine Gift of Repentance, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2011 General Conference).