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This is the second episode in a five part series about the doctrine of Christ. In this episode I’m sharing about repentance. Listen to hear how repentance is turning and how you can go beyond being like Christ to allowing Him to live in you.
There's more than one way to be a spiritually minded woman who wants to make and keep covenants, know her Savior and make it back home. Yes, there are essential CHECKPOINTS on the covenant path, but there are NO CHECKLISTS with a million checkboxes you must check off.
Each week on the Spiritually Minded Women podcast I’ll be sharing insights about how to embrace YOUR journey on the covenant path with CHECKPOINTS instead of CHECKLISTS.
Welcome to the Spirit Minded Women Podcast. I'm your host, Darla Trendler. You're listening to episode two in a five part series on the Doctrine of Christ -Repentance. Let's dive in.
I am so glad you're here because I'm excited to share about the second principle in the Doctrine of Christ repentance. But before we get to that, I just wanna say thank you. So many of you have reached out to me to tell me how excited you are about my new course that I have coming out with Desert Book.
This course is part of SEEK, which is a collection of different courses to help you live the gospel, and I am thrilled to be part of it. If you want to learn more about it, my course is called How to Help Your Teen Have a Lifetime of Spiritual Growth. And I'll put a link in the show notes so you can go and check that out.
But thank you so much for all of your love and support. It has meant the world to me, and I'm really excited to share this course with all of you.
Okay, so we're gonna talk about repentance today. And many times we hear talks on repentance and they tell us how to do it, right? I'm sure you can think of times when you have learned the steps of repentance in a talk or a lesson.
But we need to balance the doctrine, principles and applications, which is what I talked about in a previous episode, and I'm paraphrasing Elder Bednar. We need that balance. So instead of focusing on how to repent in this episode, or the steps to repentance or all of that, which is just the application, I wanna focus this episode on the why.
The why for repentance is the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Sin is a given in this moral life. No one is gonna get through without sin and its consequences. We need repentance because we all experience sin, which the apostle Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf defined for us. He said, quote, Sin is the willful transgression of divine law end quote.
But we also have the atonement of Jesus Christ, which Elder Uchtdo rf goes on to describe as "the gift of God to his children to correct and overcome the consequences of sin."
As it states in John 3:17, "for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved."
Recently I was in Provo, Utah visiting my kids, and I had an hour to myself with nothing planned. That's a really rare occurrence, so I headed to one of my favorite places to go at Brigham Young University, the Museum of Art. And I will tell you that my other favorite place to go at BYU is Lavell Edwards Stadium. I am not gonna sit here and pretend that I'm a hugely cultured person when it comes to art. I have never studied art.
I don't know a lot about it, but I do love looking at art and reading about artists and the meaning behind their pieces.
For me, I know that viewing art, especially of the Savior, is one of the ways I feel the spirit. So I was excited to have a little extra time and be at the museum by myself to explore and view art. I picked up a brochure at the front desk as I walked into the museum that gave basic tips for how to utilize a concept called "slow looking" while in the museum, And if you're more cultured than me, you might already know what that is, but I didn't know.
But the brochure mentioned three ways to practice "slow looking." One is to feed your interests by selecting art that speaks to. Two, Make yourself comfortable by sitting down to view the art. And three, give it time by letting your mind wander and engage with the piece of art.
One of my favorite pieces at the BYU Museum of Art is a piece by Carl Bloch called Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda. It's this massive painting, you can see it right from the lobby.
You've probably seen this artwork and many others depicting the life of Christ by Carl Bloch, as the church frequently uses his artwork in publications. I'll also put a link in the episode description and show notes so you can see it. But I knew I wanted to do some "slow looking" at this piece cuz it's one of my favorites. But I decided to explore other parts of the museum and the exhibits I hadn't seen first.
So near the end of my visit to the art museum, I sat on a bench in front of Carl Bloch's Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda painting, and I did what the brochure had said to do. I made myself comfortable and I let my mind wander as I looked at this massive, beautiful and inspiring piece of art.
The first thing I thought when I sat in the bench and I gazed at this painting, and I also wrote in the notes app on my phone was this. Christ sees all, including those who have suffered so much, they want to hide. You can't hide from him. Hiding is a lie satan tells, But Christ's power is greatest of all and can lift whatever covers us, a heavy blanket or dark shadows or sin or shame.
He lights the place in our heart that feels dark. There is no place he cannot reach You cannot be forgotten by Him.
After I wrote this, I looked at the painting again and my eyes were drawn to the man in the center of the painting. You can barely see him as he is sitting down. His face and body are covered by dark shadows, and Jesus is pulling a heavy cloth off of the man to reveal his face.
At first glance, I could barely see the man, but as I engaged, my eyes focused on him. From the scriptures, I knew that this man had been at the pool of Bethesda looking for healing and had not been successful. When I looked closer, I could see the desperation on this man's face.
But this man is not in total darkness as Christ is lifting the blanket that covers him. It took me several minutes to notice, but there is a small patch of light on the man's forehead. He's not totally in the dark. He has turned his head up to see the Savior, and the light on his forehead is coming from Christ. When he is looking towards Christ, there is light.
Next to this man is another man off to the side in a red. As I turned my eyes to focus on him, I noticed that he looked afraid to turn, and yet his expression seems to show that he knows and almost recognizes the power of the light just around the corner from him.
He's not covering himself. And as I looked at the painting, I thought that perhaps he thought he was a little better than the person next to him who felt the need to cover up. He didn't cover himself, but I sensed in his face that he knew he needed that light.
All he needs to do is turn ever so slightly and Christ's light will illuminate him as well, but his face shows that he is not sure. He is still contemplating and wondering if this person can really heal him.
In 2020, I did a 10 part series on the podcast about embracing your journey on the covenant path. Each of those 10 episode focuses on one thing you may encounter in your personal journey. One of those episodes was about repentance, and at that time I focused on how repentance is change. I'll link the episode in the show notes if you wanna go back and listen.
In my previous episode of Repentance, I shared the Bible dictionary definition of repentance as "The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world." But in the next sentence of the Bible dictionary definition of repentance, it says this quote, "Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined." End quote.
Today I wanna focus on this part of repentance, turning of the heart and will to God. The men at the Pool of Bethesda were looking for physical healing from Christ. One turned his head and the light Christ offered started to illuminate him. The other, the man in the red cap, was barely turned away from the Savior.
All he needed was a slight turn and he would be enveloped in Christ's healing power. With repentance, we are looking for spiritual healing and like the men at Bethesda, we only need to turn to the Savior to feel his redeeming, as well as enabling power. Repenting is turning. Turn from your ways to God's ways.
In Moses 6:52, we read If that will turn unto me and hearken unto my voice and believe and repent of all thy transgressions and be baptized even in water in the name of mine only begotten son who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost asking all things in his name, and whatsoever you shall ask, it shall be given you.
This scripture perfectly outlines the pattern we need to follow that's found in the doctrine of Christ of Faith in Him, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The key to having all the Father has to asking and having what you ask for given to you starts with turning. "Turn unto me and hearken unto my voice and believe and repent."
Repenting is turning. Elder Neil L. Andersen an Apostle described it this way, quote, "When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God. The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement, but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to re-turn toward God." End quote.
I love how Elder Anderson describes repentance as an invitation to turn around. We aren't gonna repent once and be done with repentance. We need it constantly. We need it every day, and that is why repentance is a "re-turn" toward God. We will have to return and return many times throughout our life.
As Nephi, the son of Helaman, tells his people in Helaman 7:17, " Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God."
The Hebrew word for repent is "shoob" and means to turn back or return. The word shoob was used in many Old Testament scriptures, including Ezekiel 14:6. Thus saith at the Lord God, repent and turn yourselves from idols and turn away your faces from all your abominations."
In other words, the Lord is saying repentance is turning. Return to me.
In the April, 2018 general conference, Elder Larry Y. Wilson shared, "When you feel far from God, you need to only make the decision to turn from sin and face the Savior where you will find him waiting for you, his arms outstretched. He is eager to guide you, and you are just one prayer away from receiving that guidance again."
A few months ago, I was reading my patriarchal blessing and the word pattern caught my eye. In my blessing, I am admonished to follow patterns that will help me to gain salvation. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about patterns, so I spent some time studying. The Lord has given us patterns to follow as he tells us in Doctrine & Covenants 52:14.
And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things that you may not be deceived for satan is abroad in the land and he goeth forth deceiving the nations. Patterns are everywhere in God's creation. The sun setting and rising the moons phases, the symmetry of a leaf and many other examples. All you have to do is look around and you'll see God's patterns, but there are patterns available to us that are not from God.
Satan has his own patterns, which are to lead us away. I've seen in my own life how I've created my own patterns. When I was studying about patterns, I thought about the term holding pattern. Have you ever said that about yourself or a situation you're in? "I'm in a holding pattern." Holding pattern is a state of waiting or suspended activity or progress.
I've had times in my life where I have felt stuck or like I'm not progressing. I've been in a "holding pattern" because I've been relying on myself and the patterns I've created in my life. Instead of relying on Christ and following his patterns. Repentance is turning from our own patterns. Repentance is replacing those manmade patterns with Christ's pattern.
Have you ever tried to change one of your own patterns by yourself? I have, and it doesn't really work. I had a time in my life where I thought I could repent doing it my way and skipping steps, but it never worked.
I needed Christ to break the pattern in my life. I couldn't do it by myself. I love these words from Elder Uchtdorf, "It is not repentance per se that saves man. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us." End quote.
Christ's atonement includes both redeeming and enabling power. In what I consider a landmark talk at BYU in 2001 called In the Strength of the Lord, Elder David. A Bednar shared that while we as Latter Day Saints generally understand the redeeming power of Christ atonement, we do not understand the enabling nature of Jesus's atonement quite as well. I wanna quote Elder Bednar, which you know, I do frequently. I love Elder Bednar. I tried to pare this quote down, but I couldn't do it.
There is so much packed into Elder Bednar's words, and I don't wanna paraphrase. So let me read to you what Elder Bednar said, and then I'll unpack it the best I can.
He said, "If I were to emphasize one overarching point this morning, it would be this. I suspect that you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the atonement than we are with the enabling power of the atonement.
It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us. That is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ, but we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires through his atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost to live in us not only to direct us, but also to empower us."
And then the quote continues on. I'm still quoting him.
"I think most of us know that when we do things wrong, when we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to be made clean through his redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the atonement is for sinners.
I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the atonement is also for saints, for good men and women who are obedient and worthy, and conscientious, and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly, do not think many of us "get it" concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the atonement and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must have the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline with our obviously limited capacities." End quote.
Oh, how I love those words. I love that. Elder Bednar is saying that we sometimes only think of the redeeming power of Christ's atonement to help us repent.
But we also need the enabling power of Christ's atonement to fully repent. Let me see if I can explain this a little bit more. I've already talked about how repentance is turning to God, and to do that, we not only need to let go of old ways, but we also need to create new patterns in our life. So the redeeming power of Christ's atonement helps us let go of old ways. And the enabling power helps us create new ways or patterns that help us become more like him.
As we learn from Paul on two different occasions, we can do more than just act like Jesus. We can allow him to be alive in us. So Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new."
And then in Galatians 2:20, Paul shares, "I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."
I love that. I think those words are so beautiful. Remember what Elder Bednar said in that quote I just read. "We also need to appreciate that the Lord desires through his atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost to live in us, not only to direct us, but also to empower us.
Paul said it and Elder Bednar said it as have many others. We need Christ to live in us! Repentance is turning to him. Repentance is choosing to become like Christ and allow him to live inside of you.
I love how author Samuel M. Brown in his book, First Principles and Ordinances, which is a book I'm currently reading and loving. I would highly recommend it. But he shared this thought about Christ living in us so beautifully. So I wanna share what he said.
"We often think of judgment as a weighing and hope that our best effort, plus Christ's sacrifice will be enough to tip the scales in our favor. But in reality, both our sins and our righteous deeds are swallowed up in Christ. If we engage with him and participate in the atonement, Christ's vicarious sacrifice is to stand for us on the scales where His merits will never be found wanting. The arithmetic of atonement is another way to express the insight of 2 Nephi 31:19, that in salvation, we humans must rely 'wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.' His merit is perfection. Our job is to give ourselves to him." End quote.
I love this because we utilize both aspects of Christ's Atonement, both the redeeming and enabling power. We are giving it all to the Savior, our sins and our good acts. All of it goes to Christ and as we give ourselves to Him, that is how we change. We use our agency to choose to repent and give it all to him, and in turn, we receive the power of His atonement in our life.
You can't do it alone. And you don't have to do it alone. Repentance is turning to him. Turn around and let him heal you. Go beyond the unhelpful patterns in your life. Go into a free fall. The Savior is there to catch you. You can be changed because of Him and by Him. Turn to Christ and allow Him to live in you.
And as you do that, you will be like the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, who after learning of Christ and exercising faith in Him, turned and chose to repent as we learn in Mosiah 4:2:
and they had viewed themselves in their old carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth, and they all cried aloud with one voice saying, Oh, have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our hearts may be purified for we believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God who created heaven and earth and all things who shall come down among the children of men."
You can experience the same joy and peace these Nephites felt from repentance. "And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words, the spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins and having peace of conscience because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come according to the words, which King Benjamin had spoken unto them."
After faith in Jesus Christ and the joy and the peace of repentance, Benjamin's people then had a desire to make covenants with God. Next week I'll share about the covenant of baptism and the renewal we can experience each week as we partake of the sacrament. I'll share how the sacrament will help you let go of old patterns and create new ones with Christ by your side, and how you can go from where you are now to where you want to be-- turning to Christ and allowing him to live in you. Until then, I'm cheering you on.
If you enjoyed the podcast, please share it with a friend. I would love it if you would leave a review and rate it on Apple Podcasts. This actually helps more women find the podcast and learn how to use Christ's atonement and doctrine to co-create the life they want with God by their side. To find out more about discussion guides, coaching, and more ways to be part of the Spiritually Minded Women community, head over to spiritually minded women.com.
Have an amazing day. I'm che