Repentance Is Always Positive

Repentance is always positive. It points is to improvement and happiness.

“Without the Redeemer, repentance becomes simply miserable behavior modification.”

“Repentance both puts us on the right path and keeps us on the right path.”

Too often we think of repentance as something miserable and depressing. But God’s plan is the plan of happiness, not the plan of misery! Repentance is uplifting and ennobling. It’s sin that brings unhappiness. Repentance is our escape route! As Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained: “Without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life. … Only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation. Repentance … points us to freedom, confidence, and peace.” My message to all—especially to the youth—is that repentance is always positive.

When we speak of repentance, we aren’t just talking about self-improvement efforts. True repentance is more than that—it is inspired by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His power to forgive our sins. As Elder Dale G. Renlund has taught us, “Without the Redeemer, … repentance becomes simply miserable behavior modification.” We can try to change our behavior on our own, but only the Savior can remove our stains and lift our burdens, enabling us to pursue the path of obedience with confidence and strength. The joy of repentance is more than the joy of living a decent life. It’s the joy of forgiveness, of being clean again, and of drawing closer to God. Once you’ve experienced that joy, no lesser substitute will do.

I love the parable of the prodigal son. There’s something poignant about that pivotal moment when the prodigal “came to himself.” Sitting in a pigsty, wishing he could “have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat,” he finally realized that he had wasted not only his father’s inheritance but also his own life. With faith that his father might accept him back—if not as a son then at least as a servant—he determined to put his rebellious past behind him and go home.

I’ve often wondered about the son’s long walk home. Were there times when he hesitated and wondered, “How will I be received by my father?” Perhaps he even took a few steps back toward the swine. Imagine how the story would be different if he had given up. But faith kept him moving, and faith kept his father watching and waiting patiently.

Brothers and sisters, we are all prodigals. We all have to “come to ourselves”—usually more than once—and choose the path that leads back home. It’s a choice we make daily, throughout our lives.

Repentance both puts us on the right path and keeps us on the right path. It is for those who are just beginning to believe, those who have believed all along, and those who need to begin again to believe.

I have a friend who grew up in a less-active Latter-day Saint family. When he was a young adult, he too “came to himself” and decided to prepare for a mission.

He became an excellent missionary. On his last day before returning home, the mission president interviewed him and asked him to bear his testimony. He did so, and after a tearful embrace, the president said, “Elder, you could forget or deny everything you have just testified of in a matter of months if you do not continue to do the things that built your testimony in the first place.”

My friend later told me that he has prayed and read the scriptures daily since he returned from his mission. Being constantly “nourished by the good word of God” has kept him “in the right way.”

Sometimes the journey will seem long—after all, it is the journey toward eternal life. But it can be a joyous journey if we pursue it with faith in Jesus Christ and hope in His Atonement. I testify that the moment we set foot on the path of repentance, we invite the Savior’s redeeming power into our lives. That power will steady our feet, expand our vision, and deepen our resolve to keep moving forward, step by step, until that glorious day when we finally return to our heavenly home and hear our Father in Heaven say to us, “Well done.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.