Daily Repentance
Today I read my Joseph Smith book (I’m trying to get back into the routine of things) and I came across a chapter on repentance. A quote from Joseph Smith said, “Repentance is a thing that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance is not that which is pleasing in the sight of God” (73). Really? I’m always messing up and then repenting. Maybe I’m not making huge mistakes, but I rarely have a day go by without needing to repent. Based on Smith’s statement, is the goal to need to repent less often? I feel like sinning is human. Maybe my life would be less of a life if I never or rarely sinned. After all, we grow by making mistakes, and then learning from them. And I feel like repenting is part of the learning process. Maybe I’m interpreting the quote incorrectly?
Another quote I liked was, “If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses, for if we are not drawing toward God in principle, we are going from Him… (72). Sigh. I suppose I spend much of my time going away from Him. Or not. It’s not like I’m disobeying God most of the time. It’s more that I don’t have God in mind most of the time. Should I? Should you? Is it best to live in a way that is “pleasing to God” without having to consciously think about it? Or maybe it’s better to have God constantly in your thoughts? I think it’s better to live a life which is pleasing to God without needing to constantly remind myself of what I should be doing. For example, I don’t cheat and I don’t need to remind myself that cheating is wrong everytime I take an exam. I just know that it’s wrong. It’s like a habit. Maybe someday I’ll get to a place where I won’t need to remind myself to follow the Word of Wisdom all the time. I’ll just know it’s wrong to drink alcohol. (Of course, part of the problem is that I’m not sure if it is wrong… but I’m still working on that. And we’ve been over that before.)
September 4, 2008 at 1:31 pm
It seems that you and I have written on the same subject, using the same title: Daily Repentance.
September 4, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I think what JS was getting to was that we can too easily take Repentance Lightly. We repent and screw up and repent and screw up, on and on. We should take any repentance with soberly. The attitude to avoid is one typofies: “Whatever I do today I can repent tomorrow.” This is the casual “Every day” Repentance that we need to avoid. Repenting in soberness each day for the things we have done wrong or have not done right however is good, but only when we do so in full seriousness. If we just use it as a stopgap measure, repent at night for the day’s wrong, so we don’t suffer further for our sin, is not repentance at all. We must be willing to turn away from our sin and turn to God it truly repent.
I am glad that you have picked on this today and are asking tough questions and making these challanges to the matterial you are reading. It may have been writen better but again sometimes there is only part of the statment or quotation used.
God bless,
-D
September 4, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Also: Right on with the how we should live stuff. You have discovered something it will take some the rest of their lives to understand.
It is better to do without the need for reminders, but some of us need the reminders to keep on track.
September 4, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I agree with Ditchu. Joseph Smith was cautioning against repenting daily of the same crime. Like robbing the same 7-eleven every day and asking Christ to post bail every day. Our goal is not to avoid jail-time, it is to grow and learn.
Also dangerous, we might begin to repent as part of a daily routine, repenting because we know we need to, but not knowing what to repent of. I’ve done this many times. It doesn’t take much to say, “Please forgive all my sins.”
I do think it’s wise to take the time every evening to run through that day’s thoughts and deeds. (Another plug for journal-keeping!) Then, when you remember something that you did wrong, you can take it to Father and see what needs to be done about it (on your side and on His).
Since you posted this last night, I reread that repentance section in the Joseph Smith manual. I’m slowly realizing a more mature repentance blueprint. Thanks.
September 9, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Sorry, guys, I’m a bit behind on responding to comments.
LDS anarchist - That was a really interesting post. I never really thought about it like that. Probably because I’ve always been taught that you need to pray for forgiveness whenever you sin. I’ll have to think on that some more.
ditchu - I see what you’re saying. Maybe I took the quote too literally. Or maybe the JS quote was misleading, I think that it was only one line in the JS manual. I think everyone needs some reminders to stay on track. This seems silly but I’m finding my CTR ring to be extremely helpful in that way. I have too look at it every time I look at my hands.
Thaddeus - That first paragraph rather amusing, but it gets the point across. I always pray for forgiveness for specific sins. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable saying, “Please forgive all of my sins.” I’m glad you’ve recently experienced a greater understanding of repentance. It’s definitely a process to sort through that kind of stuff.