Does the phrase "Repent" seem scary?

I've been alive long enough to know that there's a pretty large handful of people that find the call to repent as quite offensive, harsh, and outright disrespectful. Maybe the phrase has been used in quite a demeaning way. Maybe someone felt judged, ridiculed or misunderstood when the phrase was used.  Whatever the reason, I'm here to tell you that, whether or not the Call to repentance has ever seemed scary or harsh to you, there's a much more beautiful side that Might change your perspective of the word "Repent" forever.

I'm a busy mom, and in my free time-which happens to be either when I'm using the restroom or at 9:30 p.m. when my kids are finally in bed (an hour and a half past their bed time)- I may be found writing here. But you'll have to excuse many of my posts, which may be a lot less structured and professional than I'd like. 

Okay, now that I've completely polluted this post with side notes about restroom breaks and what not, I'll get back to the subject. 

So what does repentance mean? 

In Websters Dictionary we can read that Repent means either to:

1- Turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life, to feel regret or contrition or simply to change one's mind

Great. So, from this I may gather that to repent is to feel bad about something, maybe something I thought, I did, or whatever, and then to change that thought or action. 

Let's pick this definition apart a little though, shall we? 

First I want to ask. What is Sin? 

Just for fun, lets change things up. I'm going to look at Bible dictionary's opinion and Leave Webster out for a minute. And...I guess I changed my mind. Looks like there's not a direct definition for sin in the B.D. Scratch that. You can do a google search "LDS Definition of Sin" or search Websters for sin. 

But, I have some particular thoughts I'd like to share. 

Sin, in it's context can also come across as something quite demeaning, harsh and uncrhist-like to some. If you're not in that category, great, keep reading though. 

In the Scriptures, I once read of Christ describing His church. He expresses it as one body. And explains that there are many parts to this body. Each part, leg, arm, and I'd say: even the freckles on your nose are equally important. We can think of ourselves as that body. Then he goes on to explain why we would not want to remove any part of that body (1 Cor 1:12-24).  I'd like to share a unique perspective on this scripture. It is that when we remove our part from our body, as I see it, we are, in essence, going against our own self. Imagine, for example, you are an arm, and you decide to remove yourself (your arm) from the rest of your body. It's just not natural. No one in their right mind would do this.

For some time now, I have seen sin in this way. We are all spiritual beings who once lived with Heavenly Father and Knew Christ as our elder brother. We came to this earth, and kind of forgot who we were, but that doesn't mean we're not royal heirs to God's kingdom just because we forget. Our spirits know who we are. When we sin, we go against our very nature. We can try to act as if having our arm cut off from the rest of the body it belongs to is natural, freeing, and makes us happier, keeps us from being restricted, etc, etc, but it really just isn't natural. In the end, our spiritual selves will not be able to remain alive, we will have cut off the circulation, the lifeblood, to our spiritual well being, and will have lost sight of the essence of who we are. 

When we repent, we are simply saying, oh wow, I can see that the actions or thoughts I have are not bringing me true happiness, I can see that they are causing a deep internal conflict within me, I can see that these actions don't represent who I truly am. I don't want to carry on this way, it hurts. I want this deep wound, this broken limb to be mended. Sorry to be gruesome here.  This is a terrible analogy but bear with me. Hopefully you are getting the point I am trying to make. So, we recognize this sin...which is really just a spiritual wound. Then we seek for spiritual healing.

That is where repentance comes in.

So next time you are reading scriptures and see "Repent ye repent.." think of this strange analogy. A call to repent is not a reprimand to the wicked, rather, it is a loving beckoning- for those who have placed spiritual wounds upon themselves and others- to call upon the master healer so those gaping wounds can be mended.

If you wonder if you need to repent, let me tell you, the answer is most likely yes. I know, shocking right? We all "sin" or cause pain in our lives. Some are just cuts, bruises or scrapes, others are gaping wounds, broken bones or undiagnosed diseases. We don't necessarily intend to create these wounds. Often times we are just doing our best but maybe we haven't yet learned how to use a hammer correctly. Maybe we're so busy, so run-down or so invested in our lifestyle, we haven't even realized there's a growing infection within us. Whether we see it or not, eventually, that infection will get bad enough that we will have to face the reality of it. At that point, we are left with two choices: to continue suffering the pain of sin, or to seek assistance from the only true healer of our spirits, Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He knows us best, and He knows how to help us to be happiest. He can help us to re-connect, deeply, to the person we truly are. If you ever feel depressed, dark, or unhappy, turn to the Savior. Maybe there's a spiritual wound you didn't recognize that just needs to be healed. He will help you to heal that wound. Maybe the wound isn't a wound of sin. Maybe there are painful scars, or wounds that others have inflicted upon you. Or maybe life's natural disasters have caused some injuries in your life that have nothing to do with your actions or anyone else's. Maybe the air in your environment is toxic and is affecting your spiritual health in some way. Whatever it is, turn to Christ, and He will help you to know what you need for your spiritual healing and well-being.

May your journey be one ever and always leading toward greater hope and happiness.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to share in the comments below.

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