Here's to change, faith, repentance, and all that jazz
Happy New Year!
Why do we celebrate the beginning of a new year? Why do we like making new year's resolutions? After all, don't most of us break half of those within the first 24 hours and then break most of the rest within the first week? Some of the really disciplined people make it a few months, but often by the end of the next year many of us can't even remember most of our "resolutions," let alone have them achieved. So why do we do it? What's even the point?
Let's talk faith and repentance, and their relationship.
What's faith?
According to the Apostle Paul, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). The prophet Alma said that "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21).
Well, what does that mean? How do you have evidence of something you can't see? How can you know that what you're hoping for is true if you don't have a perfect knowledge of something?
I like the prophet Ether's description of faith and hope: "whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" (Ether 12:4). This is a little dense, so I'm going to break it down a bit.
1) Faith in God leads us to hope for a better world and to be saved in God's kingdom.
2) Hope gives us an anchor.
3) Faith and hope motivate us to action, to be better and to do more good things.
I could probably talk all day about any of those things, but we're going to leave it there for now and get back to that once we're done talking about repentance.
So...what's repentance?
When I say repentance, what do you think of? Think about that for a minute before I tell you what I think of. Many people (myself included at different times in my life), think of "Repent ye, repent ye" from the scriptures, preachers at the door, or anyone telling them that they need to live differently. Usually those changes aren't easy (or we don't believe they're really necessary), so often we get a bad taste in our mouths when we think about repentance. Either we feel guilty, but are too lazy and stubborn to do something about it, or we feel angry--what gives that person the right to tell me to change my life? However, I've come to feel somewhat differently about repentance.
For a minute, think about it this way. Imagine someone is trying to give you a million dollars, but has set several tasks for you to do in order to for you to receive that money. But some of those tasks are hard (even though they'll help you be happier in the long run), so you just give up on them. That person wants to help you get the money, so they keep texting you to remind you to do the tasks, and encouraging you to do them. You change, and do those things, and you're happier and closer to your goal of getting the money. Doesn't it seem like repentance is nothing but good? Hard, maybe, but good anyway? Well, you'd be right.
Repentance is nothing more or less than changing our lives to be more in line with God's will for us. And the reason He wants us to be more in line with His will is so that we can be happier, so that we can "with surety hope for a better world." Who doesn't want that?
Now, the analogy I outlined above breaks down with a little examination about what repentance is. The problem is that every single one of us has already messed up with the tasks. None of us will be capable of reaching the prize.
At least, not on our own.
The prophet Abinadi reminded us, "God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people" (Mosiah 15:1).
The prophet Isaiah assured us in the Lord's words that we could change: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1;18).
Ultimately, the invitation to repent and come unto Christ is an invitation to use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to enable us to be healed of our sins and overcome our shortcomings.
I think that all of us, whatever our religious beliefs or position in life, have weaknesses or habits that we would like to change or improve. I think we all like the idea of New Year's resolutions so much because we all hope that we can change. We all, deep down, want to believe that it's possible for us to be better next year than we are right now. We want to "hope for a better world." Faith in Jesus Christ and His ability to help us change can motivate us to act and change ourselves. In fact, "faith...would make [us] sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works." To me that sounds like that new year's resolution to help more people, or to take care of my body better, or to control my temper better.
I think that the concept of new year's resolutions is great and noble. But I'm realistic enough with myself to recognize that many of my resolutions will not be met with the zeal that I always think I'll be able to attain when I think them up...especially because then I promptly take a nap.
However, I do think that New Year's Day is a great opportunity for me to take stock of my life and remember what repentance is all about. It reminds me that while I'm not perfect right now, I can repent on a monthly, weekly, daily, even hourly basis. I used to think that repenting so much cheapened the Savior's Atonement somehow, that I should have to wait or build up need to repent, or that I shouldn't ask for help changing "smaller" weaknesses in my life. We do need to be sincere about our repentance, but I think we are all missing the point if we think that God doesn't want us to change, early and often.
Why? Because God loves His children and He wants every one of us back.
Why do we celebrate the beginning of a new year? Why do we like making new year's resolutions? After all, don't most of us break half of those within the first 24 hours and then break most of the rest within the first week? Some of the really disciplined people make it a few months, but often by the end of the next year many of us can't even remember most of our "resolutions," let alone have them achieved. So why do we do it? What's even the point?
Let's talk faith and repentance, and their relationship.
What's faith?
According to the Apostle Paul, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). The prophet Alma said that "faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21).
Well, what does that mean? How do you have evidence of something you can't see? How can you know that what you're hoping for is true if you don't have a perfect knowledge of something?
I like the prophet Ether's description of faith and hope: "whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" (Ether 12:4). This is a little dense, so I'm going to break it down a bit.
1) Faith in God leads us to hope for a better world and to be saved in God's kingdom.
2) Hope gives us an anchor.
3) Faith and hope motivate us to action, to be better and to do more good things.
I could probably talk all day about any of those things, but we're going to leave it there for now and get back to that once we're done talking about repentance.
So...what's repentance?
When I say repentance, what do you think of? Think about that for a minute before I tell you what I think of. Many people (myself included at different times in my life), think of "Repent ye, repent ye" from the scriptures, preachers at the door, or anyone telling them that they need to live differently. Usually those changes aren't easy (or we don't believe they're really necessary), so often we get a bad taste in our mouths when we think about repentance. Either we feel guilty, but are too lazy and stubborn to do something about it, or we feel angry--what gives that person the right to tell me to change my life? However, I've come to feel somewhat differently about repentance.
For a minute, think about it this way. Imagine someone is trying to give you a million dollars, but has set several tasks for you to do in order to for you to receive that money. But some of those tasks are hard (even though they'll help you be happier in the long run), so you just give up on them. That person wants to help you get the money, so they keep texting you to remind you to do the tasks, and encouraging you to do them. You change, and do those things, and you're happier and closer to your goal of getting the money. Doesn't it seem like repentance is nothing but good? Hard, maybe, but good anyway? Well, you'd be right.
Repentance is nothing more or less than changing our lives to be more in line with God's will for us. And the reason He wants us to be more in line with His will is so that we can be happier, so that we can "with surety hope for a better world." Who doesn't want that?
Now, the analogy I outlined above breaks down with a little examination about what repentance is. The problem is that every single one of us has already messed up with the tasks. None of us will be capable of reaching the prize.
At least, not on our own.
The prophet Abinadi reminded us, "God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people" (Mosiah 15:1).
The prophet Isaiah assured us in the Lord's words that we could change: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1;18).
Ultimately, the invitation to repent and come unto Christ is an invitation to use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to enable us to be healed of our sins and overcome our shortcomings.
I think that all of us, whatever our religious beliefs or position in life, have weaknesses or habits that we would like to change or improve. I think we all like the idea of New Year's resolutions so much because we all hope that we can change. We all, deep down, want to believe that it's possible for us to be better next year than we are right now. We want to "hope for a better world." Faith in Jesus Christ and His ability to help us change can motivate us to act and change ourselves. In fact, "faith...would make [us] sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works." To me that sounds like that new year's resolution to help more people, or to take care of my body better, or to control my temper better.
I think that the concept of new year's resolutions is great and noble. But I'm realistic enough with myself to recognize that many of my resolutions will not be met with the zeal that I always think I'll be able to attain when I think them up...especially because then I promptly take a nap.
However, I do think that New Year's Day is a great opportunity for me to take stock of my life and remember what repentance is all about. It reminds me that while I'm not perfect right now, I can repent on a monthly, weekly, daily, even hourly basis. I used to think that repenting so much cheapened the Savior's Atonement somehow, that I should have to wait or build up need to repent, or that I shouldn't ask for help changing "smaller" weaknesses in my life. We do need to be sincere about our repentance, but I think we are all missing the point if we think that God doesn't want us to change, early and often.
Why? Because God loves His children and He wants every one of us back.
This is great, thanks for sharing! You're so awesome!
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