Just wanted to document my talk from today, given in Sacrament meeting. David spoke on Repentance as well.
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I was asked to give a talk on Repentance. I will be referring a lot to a talk given by
Elder Richard G. Scott titled, “Finding Forgiveness.”
None of us wake up in the morning, lie in bed and think,
“What sin can I commit today?” I think I
can safely say that everyone in this room who has made the effort to come to
church today really wants to do what is right in life. But we all get distracted. We all make small choices that eventually
lead to big mistakes.
Elder M. Russell Ballard said, “Sin will always, always,
result in suffering. It may come sooner,
or it may come later, but it will come.”
There is a song that I would like to share with you by the
group Casting Crowns called “Slow Fade.”
It speaks of “Little Eyes” and “Little Feet” but young and old can learn
much from the lyrics.
Be careful little eyes
what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as
darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are
sure to follow
Be careful little ears
what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is
always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken
hearts astray
It's a slow fade when
you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have
turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price
will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in
a day
Families never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade
Just like this song says, we have been taught in church and
general conferences that Satan rarely tempts us with the big things. He starts slowly with the little things. It is a slow fade, like this song says. Sometimes we forget that and in so we end up
justifying small sins. Years ago I was
in a Sunday school class with my husband where types of sin were being brought
up. A certain comment made, indicated
that it really only matters how severe the sin is. David turned to me and said, “Sin is
sin. It doesn’t matter what the severity
of the sin is because any sin will keep you from the presence of God.” Think about that for a moment.
Moses 6:25
We can have 2 reactions to that.
We can believe that
all hope is lost because if something as minor as thinking bad thoughts will
keep us from the presence of God just as much as if we actually did what we
thought, well, there is no hope for any of us.
Or…
We can marvel at the magnitude of the importance Christ’s
sacrifice just really was and is.
Elder Scott said, “Only the life, teachings, and particularly
the atonement of Jesus Christ can release us from this otherwise impossible predicament. Each of us has made mistakes, large or small,
which if unresolved will keep us from the presence of God. For this reason, the atonement of Jesus
Christ is the single most significant event that ever has or ever will
occur. This selfless act of infinite
consequence, performed by a single glorified personage, has eternal impact in
the life of every son and daughter of our Father in Heaven – without exception. It shatters the bonds of death. It justifies our finally being judged by the
Master. It can prevent an eternity under
the control of the devil.”
We have been taught many times the process of
repentance. We need to have sorrow for
the sin, we need to let go of the sin, we need to confess the sin, we need to
make the sin right if at all possible and we need to commit to never do it
again. These are all pretty
self-explanatory, especially since we have been taught this many times.
I personally think that he hardest part of the repentance
process, and what usually is what keeps us from repenting, is the part where we
commit never to do the sin again. It’s
not that we don’t want to give this sin up because at this point, when we are
ready to begin the repentance process, we feel guilt and want it gone. So it’s not that we don’t want to give the
sin up, it is just that in all reality, we are more than likely going to commit
the same exact sin. That very sin that
you truly believed, while during the repentance process, that you would never
do again. Whether it be having negative
thoughts about a person or the desire to start back up an addiction, no matter
how small or large the sin, life has a way of putting us in daily situations
where we will be tempted to do those very sins that we committed NEVER to do
again.
So, is all lost? Can
we never be truly forgiven because we keep messing up? No!
This is where I feel we convince ourselves to stay in the sin. We have asked for forgiveness so many times,
well, there has to be a limit, right?
Eventually God is going to not believe us anymore when we say we won’t
commit a certain sin again because eventually we fall right back in the process
of committing that sin, right?
Let me ask you something.
If you were sitting in front of a dear friend right now and that friend
was confessing to you an addiction or sin that he or she seems to keep committing,
would you not encourage him or her to keep trying? Would you not build him or her up with all
the things they have done right in their effort to not sin again? Of course you would love that friend and give
encouragement. YET, when it is ourselves
who are in the same exact position, we beat ourselves up in the most unforgiving
manner. As if the rules somehow change
just because we are now the ones in that cycle of sin. The Lord loves us. Plain and simple. And He always wants us to return to Him. His arms are always open. We just have to be willing to take that step
forward, into His arms. He will do the
rest. He will encircle His arms around
you and do the rest that is needed to make sure you can be in Heavenly Father’s
presence again.
I would like to end with Elder Scott’s testimony of
repentance. He said,
“…with all the tenderness and sincerity of heart I invite
each one of you to thoughtfully review your life. Have you deviated from the standards that you
know will bring happiness? Is there a
dark corner that needs to be cleaned out?
Are you now doing things that you know are wrong? Do you fill your mind with unclean
thoughts? When it is quiet and you can
think clearly, does your conscience tell you to repent?
For your peace now and for everlasting happiness, please
repent. Open your heart to the Lord and
ask Him to help you. You will earn the
blessing of forgiveness, peace, and the knowledge you have been purified and
made whole. Find courage to ask the Lord
for strength to repent, now.”
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We got to walk right through this C-5, which was super cool.
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