Complete Repentence


I have faced repentance many times in my life, and by many, I mean every single day. It’s frustrating to be human and to make so many mistakes despite knowing better; because we do know better. 2 Nephi 2:5 says,
“And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good and become miserable forever.”
What a tragic end to look forward to.
How do we escape this impending eternal misery? We are freed through Christ and through complete repentance.
Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sins, but that doesn’t mean the deal is done and we need not worry. Our part of the Plan is to fully repent and take upon us the gift of Jesus Christ’s Atonement. So how is this done? Repentance is more than praying for forgiveness, we have seen examples of complete repentance in the scriptures that we can use as examples in our own efforts.
The Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s were a great example of complete repentance when they buried their weapons of war. In Alma 24 we are inspired by an entire people covenanting with the Lord to not take up arms or even think about going to war against their brethren. They had a complete change of heart through their repentance, so much that they didn’t even THINK about hurting others! How amazing is that?
Alma 24:18-19, “And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.

And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.”
I hope to put complete repentance into practice every single day. We can’t simply clean off our swords, we must bury them deep in the earth and want for nothing but peace. We are blessed to have so many amazing role models in the scriptures and as modern day church leaders.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 3: The Sanctity of Marriage

A couple of weeks ago our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson shared a special message with us as church members in a broadcast. My husband and I listened to his address together later that evening when we returned home from work. Being so close to General Conference, we knew his words had to be important if he was making such an effort to share them now. President Nelson shared a message of God’s love and the unchanging truth of His gospel. The words shared were riveting and soul calming, they were truly inspired by our Heavenly Father. As we can see from our reading this week, the world focuses on the now more than on an eternal perspective. Many of God’s children are unaware of His love for them and what that can mean for their personal salvation. As the world gets further away from God’s plan, we can rely on the truths of this gospel to keep us on the right path. The truths of the gospel are unchanging, including those in relation to same sex relations. I would like to share th...
Read more

Week 10: Seeking to Understand

At the conclusion of Gottman’s book, he shares with us his “marital poop detector”. Gottman uses the marital poop detector to find early warning signs of something not smelling quite right in a marriage. When I was reading, I thought of a favorite saying from high school, (back when things like poop were funny). Anytime someone would say, “Does that make sense?” or something of the sort, we would respond with, “yeah I’m smelling what you’re stepping in.” As funny as this may have been, it’s applicable to marriage in that we need to be on the same page with our spouse, especially when things are turning sour. If I’ve learned anything from Gottman and Goddard this semester, it is the importance of communication in any relationship, but especially marriage; the marital poop detector is no different. Being able to sense when things are off in our relationships before they escalate to a point of no return is a powerful tool. But how can we achieve this? How can we smell the poop? (Are yo...
Read more

Week 5: Do You Believe in Magic?

Eight positive interactions were defined and introduced in the blog post, “The Magical Relationship Ratio, According to Science”, from The Gottman Institute. These interactions include: Be interested, express affection, demonstrate they matter, intentional appreciation, find opportunities for agreement, empathize and apologize, accept your partners perspective, and make jokes (but not at their expense). I consciously put these actions to the test in my own marriage this week and recorded the outcomes; here are a few of my findings and experiences. Be interested: My husband loves the world of fitness and spends a lot of his free time working out, studying for nutrition and training certifications, or researching new techniques. He follows the lives of several famous athletes through social media and often tells me about their latest P.R. or torn ligaments. I usually just nod and “mhm” through the conversation until he notices my disinterest and changes the conversation. This week I ...
Read more