Repentance

A comment in Relief Society is helping me comprehend the difference between feeling guilty and feeling contrite—and helping me live with more joy.

“I realized that the sneakiest things Satan was binding me with weren’t sins at all—they were distractions.”

Do you remember what crushes were like when you were younger? What if we approached our relationship with God with that same enthusiasm?

We cannot truly love others until we complete this crucial step.

In a recent video, Elder D. Todd Christofferson said he’d been thinking about “the precious gift of repentance” offered by Jesus Christ.

“I wasn’t sure how I could be forgiven for all my bad choices. But I found repentance was more about who I was becoming than who I was in the past.”

What if change can be immediate? In fact, what if long-lasting change isn’t possible without immediate change?

When a young man expressed concern that he was still feeling guilt after repenting, Elder Andersen shared this insight on repentance and forgiveness.

To be at peace with our efforts, we must learn to stop seeing our lives through a self-centric lens and start looking through a Savior-centric lens.

We may be discouraged when reading of those who are ‘lost’ in Lehi’s vision. But if we examine the context, the vision can actually be a hopeful message.

Sy’s son Zachary was killed in an act of random violence. With the Savior by her side, Sy fought the decades-long battle to forgive his killer and find joy in her life once more.

We all want to feel loved and accepted. Here are nine ideas that may help those who are unable to fully participate at church know they are welcome among their fellow Latter-day Saints.

This video shared on Facebook captures an instance of a sheep being rescued—but with a surprise ending that may hold powerful spiritual lessons for all of us.

Highlights from Elder Soares’s October 2020 conference talk are pared with beautiful animation to illustrate an important message of hope and healing.

On this week’s episode of This is the Gospel, two storytellers share about small decisions that had lasting impacts. At 18 years old, Vinnie moved away from his family and was ready to do things his way. But he promised his mom that he would try attending church one last time. Read how Vinnie’s decision to keep this promise influenced him when he felt lost—both physically and spiritually.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided wonderful mental health resources in recent years. There is even an entire “mental health” section in the Gospel Library on the Church’s website. The content is excellent, and I encourage you to explore it.

As I attended seminary in high school, I had a friend who sat across the aisle from me. She was intelligent and kind, and had a warm personality. We rarely saw each other outside of seminary. Through my senior year of high school, we got to know each other in seminary class and discussed many things that were meaningful to us.

You are now here on earth, a glorious son or daughter of God. You have entered a mortal world with all the deficiencies, temptations, and enticements of a secondary existence where Satan and his followers are allowed to tempt you, to seduce you, and to ensnare you.1 While you have made mistakes, these sins do not describe who you are. Your identity is not defined by the sins of this world, but by the righteousness of another. Finding yourself here with the sins and failings of this difficult probationary state, your soul cries out for divine help. Deep in your soul, you yearn for a Redeemer, a Savior, to find your way back to your heavenly home.2 The Fall does not define you; it helps to refine you.

While we should not be overly preoccupied in thinking about Satan and his purposes, as we honestly consider our desire to repent and more closely follow the Savior, we need to realize that the forces of the adversary will attempt to thwart our resolve.

I was called as the mission president of the France Bordeaux Mission in 1989, and we arrived in Bordeaux in the month of July. The mission was just opening, and we were the first family to live in the mission home, which was still being furnished when we arrived. The mission home needed a piano, and we were encouraged to visit local music stores to find one. It seemed with each store we entered, seeing our missionary tags with the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the proprietor of the store would say, “I know one of your members, Philippe Moreau.” Philippe was a concert pianist of some reputation in Bordeaux, and I was impressed that he was so open about his beliefs. I expected to meet him soon. When we did not meet him, I asked the leaders in Bordeaux about Philippe Moreau. Their countenances saddened at the question, and they informed me that he was no longer a member of the Church. They explained that he had joined the Church in his late teens and had been a fervent disciple of the Savior, but then had moved away from the Savior’s teachings.

In the January 2017 Ensign, then-President Uchtdorf lovingly prepared a message for members of the Church: “Aiming at the Center.” This message shares a compelling metaphor for how we should focus our lives.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in 2 Corinthians 1-7. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Livingfor additional resources and suggestions.

"We talk about repentance and we focus on its importance and we know that there's only one person who ever lived who doesn't need it, but when we see others around us going through it, we're not really sure how to react," Nick says in the new His Grace video "Repentance: We Are Never Alone."

I must have walked past the bishop’s office at least 10 times that night. To my 15-year-old brain, it felt more like 100, but I kept walking by even though Mutual had been done for a while. Trying to look nonchalant, I walked toward the lobby one more time to see if the bishop’s door was open, just like I had the week before and the week before that. It hadn’t been open any of those other weeks, but tonight might be different. Palms sweating, stomach aching, and head hanging low, I slinked one more time through the church building.

As Disney fans around the world prepare for The Lion King to hit theaters, we wanted to share some of the gospel lessons that make this story great.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in Acts 10-15. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a series of powerful videos about overcoming pornography, supporting loved ones with a pornography problem, and finding healing from pornography or betrayal trauma. We will be highlighting these valuable resources over the ensuing weeks.

This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in Acts 6-9. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Livingfor additional resources and suggestions.

“Angels above us are silent notes taking of ev’ry action; then do what is right!” As a child, I took those hymn lyrics to heart, imagining that someone somewhere was watching my every action and taking note.

We know we shouldn’t think about sin because “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). So on what should we be focusing? Avoiding sin? Not really.

This is an excerpt from the book Falling to Heaven: The Surprising Path to Happiness, by James L. Ferrell.

Godly sorrow, or mature guilt, is a constructive emotion. We are guilty of sin, and so feeling guilty is completely appropriate, including feeling deep remorse for our rebellion against God and sorrow for the hurt we have caused others. Awareness of our guilt is the first step in repentance and change. This godly sorrow appropriately follows the recognition that we have violated our own moral code.

The following story was originally published on Jason F. Wright's blog in 2015and has been republished with permission.

Recently I visited with a friend who hasn’t stepped inside a chapel in years. This genuinely good guy believes that even casual church attendance should be based upon some basic level of obedience.

Some time ago a friend, not a member of the Church because of recent discipline, asked, "What can I do while I am waiting? Over the past period of time, it has been made very evident what I cannot do. Tell me and others in my situation what we can do."

We need not be guilty of serious sin in order to need, to appreciate, and to take advantage of a second chance. In fact, sometimes we may find ourselves hoping for a second chance that has nothing to do with sin at all. How many times have we made innocent mistakes—not out of rebellion but just out of ignorance or poor judgment—and wished we could try again? How often has a misunderstanding led to a strained relationship, and we wished we could go back in time to do things differently?

It’s a Sunday morning, and I’ve just finished breakfast. I decide to go for a walk while listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on my MP3 player. Afterward, I shower and dress in clothes I ironed the day before. Anxious not to be late for church, I gather my scriptures and lesson materials because today is my turn to teach Sunday School. I feel prepared, but I run through a mental checklist to make sure I have everything I need. Ready at last, I set out for the chapel, greet some friends before the service begins, find my usual seat, and pick up a hymnbook.

In response to our humility about our weakness, God offers to “make weak things become strong” unto us (Ether 12:27). There must be ways for weak things to become strong other than through noticeable improvement in our ability. . . .

“The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead is a great addition to our scriptures and reveals more fully than any passages found in the scriptures that Jesus Christ loves all the daughters and sons of God and provided them the way to return home,” President M. Russell Ballard said.

We each have our own “favorite sins” that, for some reason, we can’t seem to shake. So when we lose hope and feel like change is impossible, how do we conquer the weaknesses that hold us back?

Keep your eye on the ball,” whispers the golf coach, encouraging the player to maintain her focus solely on the goal, which is to hit the ball in precisely the right way to get a hole in one. Well, maybe someday.

Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the Seventy spoke of the message of Hosea:

William Shakespeare wrote:

In place of faith in Christ, some choose disbelief. When people say, “There is no God,” or, “The Church isn’t true,” their words can put us on the defensive. However, such comments are sometimes attempts to justify poor choices and avoid change. When we listen beyond the words, the message really being communicated in such cases is, “I’ve sinned and don’t want to repent.”

The following is an excerpt from Anthony Sweat's recently released book, Christ in Every Hour.