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If you’re like me you may have viewed repentance in a...less than warm and friendly manner. It was a bad thing, a punishment; repenting meant I wasn’t perfect and frankly -- I don't want to admit that.
But after reading the The Meaning of Repentance by Elder Theodore M. Burton turns out...I’m not so crazy.
You see when the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the word, “shube” was used for the concept of repentance: It means “turn back to Him."
When the New Testament was originally written in Greek, the word “metaneoeo” was used for this concept. Roughly translated it means “a change of thinking so powerful that it changes one’s very way of life.”
Then things got a little haywire.
The New Testament was translated into Latin and the word “poenitere” was used for this concept. The root “poen” in that word is the same root found in the English words punish, penance, penitent, and - you guessed it - repentance.
Over the years I've learned repentance is completely the opposite. It is not something to dread, it's a gift! And like any gift is to be welcomed with joy. So here are three scripturess that illustrate the joy that results from turning back to Him and changing our way of life, or in other words – repentance.
1) Alma 36: First is our good friend Alma the Younger. You may recall Alma was the son of the prophet, but did not exactly follow in his father’s footsteps; instead he went around “destroying the church”. One day he and his buddies are walking down the road and an angel stops them - specifically calls out Alma and says," if thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God". Alma is struck dumb, falls to the ground and can’t speak or move for three days.
While in this motionless state Alma was having the reckoning of a liftime. He remembered all the bad he did; the "sins and iniquities", the rebelling, the breaking of comandments (you name it). He uses the word 'racked' five times and goes on for seven verses to explain just how tormented he was. Now it's important to understand how much he was suffering so we can fully appreciate what happens next.
When his pain was so great, as if he were "encircled about by the everlasting chains of death," he reached out to the Savior. And gave those sins to Him.
What was he left with? J-O-Y.
"I could remember my pains no more...yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"
He then uses the word 'joy' five times to describe this juxtaposition; how he felt when he changed his way of life and turned closer to God. When he repented.
2) D&C 18:10-16: These verses are about crying repentance to others and bringing them back to God. (Aka misionary work.)
Verse 15: "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"
Verse 16: “And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”
....That’s 4 joys and 3 exclamation points. (Pretty rare in scripture.) What caused such enthusiasm from the Lord...repentance.
3) Last is Luke 15, or as some call it, "The Lost Soul Chapter":
-The 99 and one lost sheep
-The lost piece of silver
-And the prodigal son
I've always looked at these parables and identified with one side or the other: sometimes we're the 99 who looks for the lost souls and sometimes - we are that lost soul. But I had an "ah-ha" moment when reading verse seven that says the 99 are:
“just persons with no need for repentance.”
That describes the Savior - not you. Definitely not me. So when I looked at the chapter in this context it...kind of blew my mind. God and our Savior are the ones searching for us, the sinner, begging us to repent (or come back to them).
Verse 5: The shepard brings the lost sheep home on his shoulder "rejoicing".
Verse 9: The woman searches diligently and finds her lost coin. Then "she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost."
After hitting rock bottom the prodigal son returns home (remember 'turn back to God'). The father sees him, runs to him and "fell on his neck and kissed him".
Verse 21: The son begs for forgiveness...and what does the dad do? He doesn't lecture him, he doesn't punish him, he doesn't even sneak in an "I told you so". The son's obvious anguish since their seperation was punishment enough.
Instead he calls for "the best robe", ring, shoes and a fatted calf be brought out in his son's honor.
Why all the fanfare? As the father explains, his "son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."
He has come home.
He has repented: let us rejoice.
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