Do it daily

If repentance is how we walk God’s road to self-improvement, how we become more than what we are now, then why would we not want that every day?

Recently I’ve returned to Conference, and the Prophet’s message to the brethren in the priesthood session has weighed particularly upon me.  He spoke about repentance.  That topic isn’t new to a forum like General Conference.  Yet there was something about President Nelson’s words that got me thinking about repentance in a whole new way.

In the past, I’ve typically thought of repentance as something needful to cleanse from sin.  That view sees repentance as the occasional act with a frequency matching the occurrence of sin.  President Nelson’s remarks changed my view with his use of the word daily in connection to repentance.

Of the 15 times he used the words repent or repentance, President Nelson also used the word daily with five of those references.  Go back and look if you don’t believe me.  One out of every three occurrences is not insignificant.  This use of the word daily caught my attention.  And in my subsequent pondering, I’ve gained a new understanding and appreciation of repentance.  I’ve come to see we really do need to do it daily.

Set the stage

I confess a part of my pondering includes a book from my Sunday afternoon reading — The Infinite Atonement by Tad Callister.  As I started reading the book, it became very clear to me Elder Callister didn’t write this book quickly.  His final product obviously evidences extensive research, consultation with others, and much revision.

Combining this text with President Nelson’s remarks has proved powerful for me.  Elder Callister presents repentance as God’s plan for our self-improvement.  The Atonement is not just about making us clean from impurity but also about improving us into something more than we were before, and repentance is how we access that power.

If repentance is how we walk God’s road to self-improvement, how we become more than what we are now, then why would we not want that every day?  In that regard, President Nelson’s use of the word daily in connection with repentance seems very natural.  Said he,

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     The word for repentance in the Greek New Testament is metanoeo. The prefix meta- means “change.” The suffix -noeo is related to Greek words that mean “mind,” “knowledge,” “spirit,” and “breath.”
     Thus, when Jesus asks you and me to “repent,” He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies.
     Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. . . . Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day.
     When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!

Let’s all follow the Prophet by doing and being a little better every day.

President Nelson spoke of specific areas in which priesthood holders can seek to improve.  These included how we dress and groom our bodies and “how we honor the women in our lives.”

But President Nelson said in that regard, “Take an inventory of how you spend your time and where you devote your energy. That will tell you where your heart is.”  Although the Prophet applied this idea to a specific application, I think we could apply it equally to any area of improvement we need in our lives.

Do you remember what we discussed a month ago directly following Conference?  We focused on Sister Craven’s remarks about being careful as opposed to being casual.  Sister Craven spoke principally of our covenants and the spiritual aspect of our lives.  I expanded that focus to include every part of our lives.  We get from anything what we give to it.  We can’t expect quality results when we give casual attention.  To get quality, we must give careful attention.

That’s where President Nelson’s remarks take center stage.  We don’t need to be perfect all at once.  We just need to do a little better today than we did yesterday.  And it’s imperative that we do so, because President Nelson declared,

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Make your focus on daily repentance so integral to your life that you can exercise the priesthood with greater power than ever before. This is the only way you will keep yourself and your family spiritually safe in the challenging days ahead.

Be better

The good news is that we can all start today to turn our lives around.  We each can identify one thing we will do today to be a little better than we were yesterday.  It’s in doing the small but appropriate things consistently every day that we achieve tremendous results in anything.

Then at the end of the day, we can ask ourselves, “Did I do a little better today than I did yesterday?  Am I a little better today than I was yesterday?” If we can answer “Yes” to those questions, we are on the road of repentance.  And that road leads to the covenant path that will take us to our heavenly home.

Let us all follow the Prophet.  Let each one of us repent and do it daily.  As we do better the little things we need to improve, we will be better in whatever role we have in our lives.  We’ll be happier people, and our influence for good in the lives of others will be more effective.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

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You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode.