My name is Matthew Hart. Whether or not you know me, you and I have some things in common.
Of the many things we may have, I will just list a few.
- We both are Children of God
- We both make mistakes that make us sad and separate us from our Heavenly Father and true happiness.
- We both have a Savior. He loves you and will wrap you up in His arms of mercy as soon as you repent.
- We both need to repent.
Repentance makes me feel all better. After tasting something disgusting, Spit it out! Use Mouthwash! Make your mouth Clean. Sure mouthwash might sting a bit while shwishing and gargling, but your mouth says "thank you for giving it a fresh, clean feeling just as your soul does when you repent.
Repentance might be needed even if you haven't done anything bad. Just like a car needs maintenance, or teeth need to be brushed, clothes need to be washed, and carpets need to be vacuumed, our souls NEED repentance consistently.
In Washington DC, and the area surrounding it, there are many trees. During this time of the year the leaves change color. I often find myself in awe with how beautiful the trees are and how marvelous God's creations are. Then I think about what it must be like for the trees. If trees had feelings, maybe during autumn (or fall), they might be frustrated, upset, or depressed. They worked all spring and summer developing their leaves only to have them fall off again. One by one those leaves fall until the trees don't have any more leaves. They might feel embarrassed, cold, naked, hungry, lonely or unloved.
All that work to make those leaves... was it all for nothing? could it be that trees make leaves only to lose them? No way José! When a tree loses its leaves, it has room to grow new ones. Spring comes and trees bud and blossom and they make new leaves. I think trees have been around long enough to have positive attitudes about the need to change, adapt and grow. We should see repentance as that opportunity awaiting us to improve. Although we may have to give up something good first, as we repent, we can trust God will return to us something better.
Repentance is not really changing who you are, but finding out who your Heavenly Father intends you to be, and acting on that.
Repentance is becoming who you divinely invited to be.
It's kind of like what Mufasa says to Simba in the Lion King.
"You are more than what you have become."
Repentance is coming unto Jesus Christ and renewing our commitment to follow Him.
Okay so ALL of 2 Nephi 31 is fantastic, and I invite you to read it, because I LOVE IT!
The principles of Repentance and enduring to the end are weaved together. You need one for the other to work. Jacob says that after we repent we should Cleave unto God. Jacob 6: 5, 8-9, 11-12
I will now say a line quoted often by Christians worldwide.
"Jesus Christ died for us."
There it is in its beautiful simplicity.
Is this true? If it is true, what does that mean? Am I saved? Is there something I need to do to accept His Atoning sacrifice? --- These are some questions of the soul concerning Salvation.
The role of Christ in our life: Alma 7:11-13
We have our ability to make choices and we have the ability to choose to rely upon Christ's Atonement.
Lehi, a prophet from the Book of Mormon around 580 BC says this about choices: 2 Nephi 2: 27-28,30
How do we choose Jesus Christ's sacrifice on our behalf? First, we must believe or have a desire to believe until that desire grows into Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Alma 32: 21, 27
Then! Alma continues on to say, Repent and keep the commandments. Alma 7:14-17
I will say more concerning Baptism in a later blog post. For now, I will say repentance prepares us for Baptism, and Baptism is our first covenant we make with God, and it is the way to receive a remission of our sins.
Trust in the Lord enough to have faith in Him enough to repent. He knows much more than we do.
This is a video of leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that everyone should watch.
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