Repentance

As we come to recognize our Savior's voice and as we seek to come to know Him 
better, let's talk about what is at the very top of His list or near the top for us. Listen to Him calling to you. "Verily I say unto you, my servant [insert your own name here], that you are clean,  but not all; repent, therefore, of those things which are not pleasing in my sight, saith the Lord, for the Lord will show them unto you" (D&C 66:3).


We are all set up because of the inventory to look at repentance as it applies to you 
personally. We must first recognize the sin, feel sorry about it, forsake it, confess it, 
then make restitution. We must also forgive others and keep the commandments.  

Sometimes we get in our mind that all we need to do is just rush through this little 
checklist and then we are good to go again.  That may work for a time, but what 
about when we fall back into the same old traps and patterns? Does that mean 
we totally blew it on the forsaking part? 

Maybe you are bracing yourself for an annoying discussion that hasn’t seemed to 
work in  the past. Maybe repentance seems more like an obligatory little game 
where you just  half-heartedly jump through the hoops because that must be 
how repentance works.

Let me share some gems from The Infinite Atonement about putting this process off, 
“There cannot simultaneously be repentance and rationalization.  Rationalization is the
 world’s answer to sin’ repentance is the Lord’s...Rationalization is the intellectual drug 
that anesthetizes the sting of conscience...Wickedness alone seldom, if ever, has been
the cause of man’s destruction; the greater tragedy is wickedness coupled with an 
unwillingness to repent” (Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 180, 181, 182).  I hope
 we can reframe our concept of repentance in a way that we are eager to take this step too.

One of our bishops shared his concept of repentance from his childhood.  He 
thought repentance was like a big eraser that would follow behind all the black marks
 he made to cross them out one by one. He simply needed to stay ahead of the game 
by erasing more marks than he made.

What if I told you God has a better plan?  This plan for repentance in His way does 
more than Christ chasing behind us crossing off the bad marks we are accumulating. 
True repentance is not only covering for our sins, but also a whole new upgrade to
where we can be in remission from them. Does that give you hope and help you 
feel excited about what we are about to do?

Believe it or not, because of the work you just did in the last chapter, you should have 
already started this process.  “Repentance” in the Bible Dictionary tells us this, “The 
Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh view 
about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of 
mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a 
 renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined” (HERE).

Do you love that as much as I do? Doesn’t that just fit perfectly with what you just 
experienced as you took an inventory of your Belief Boxes? When we have a change
 in our beliefs where we trade out the lies and truth for Truth, we are repenting. 

And since I'm a yogi, :) Listen to what President Nelson said about this. "When 
Jesus said 'repent,' His disciples recorded that command in the Greek language 
with the verb metanoeo. This powerful word has great significance. In this word, 
the prefix meta means "change." The suffix relates to four important Greek terms:  
nous, meaning 'the mind;' gnosis, meaning 'knowledge;' pneuma, meaning 'spirit;' 
and pnoe, meaning 'breath.' Thus, when Jesus said, 'repent,' He asked us to 
change---to change our mind, knowledge, and spirit---even our breath."  

Later, he added, "Can we begin to see the breadth and depth of what the Lord is giving to us when He offers us the gift to repent? He invites us to change our minds, our knowledge, our spirit, even our breathing. For example, when we repent, we breathe with gratitude to God, who lends us breath from day to day.¹⁴ And we desire to use that breath in serving Him and His children. Repentance is a resplendent gift. It is a process never to be feared. It is a gift for us to receive with joy and to use—even embrace—day after day as we seek to become more like our Savior."

In my yoga teacher training, our instructor taught us how to do one on one's with 
clients by helping them to discover their own breath and learn to breathe more deeply. 
It was such a powerful experience for me on both ends---both receiving the support
 and making the observations for my fellow classmate. Even the way we breathe, 
the ways we move or carry our bodies are effected (and can and will be changed) 
because of what is going on inside of us. I have witnessed that again and again in 
those privileged moments I have had to offer these tools to individuals in my yoga 
classes.

Christ is calling for a complete change as He is asking us to repent!

We must understand that repentance means we not only turn away from the sin, 
but also turn towards God and Truth. Repentance, by this definition, is different 
than the nose in the corner or just getting enough whips for what we did wrong.  
Repentance isn’t a punishment! 

I am going to let you decide for yourself if you have adequately recognized the 
“Actions/Behaviors” that you have done wrong and if you feel Godly sorrow for them.  
Your inventory should be a thorough accounting of your sins, and if you did it well, 
should have easily lead you to recognition. 

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