Repentance
Ok, It’s football season!!! I love football season. I
love going to the home high school football games. I love watching the plays as they happen. I
love to watch the cheerleaders! I love the nachos! I love listening to the
band! Because I love singing Rigby Trojans The best! I also love the Nfl. We
have a great time watching their games too! I think the Packers got robbed a
week ago but I guess I will get over it! A couple weeks ago I was watching a
game and a player jumped up to catch the ball for what would hopefully be a
touchdown. But it was ruled incomplete because one of the players feet didn’t
land in bounds and in the nfl you have to have both feet land in bounds with
possession of the ball for it to be a touchdown. As the announcers were talking about the play
they showed an instant replay of what happened.
That’s one thing I wish the high school had was instant replay. Any way
the instant replay showed that the player actually did get both feet down in
bounds. So the play was over turned and they were awarded a touchdown. Now
imagine with me for a minute. Wonder if there weren’t any solid lines on the
field. Or any out of bounds lines for that matter. We would still know
approximately where they were. Do you think that play would have been changed
to a touchdown? Maybe if the refs liked their team yes. But if the refs didn’t
like them then no. Can you see how that would cause chaos so quickly? So are
the lines on the field a good thing? (you can answer that) Are the lines there
to actually help the players? (Yes they are) Heavenly Father has his own set of
lines doesn’t he? (Yes) Are Heavenly Fathers lines actually there to help you?
Just like the lines on a football field? (Yes!!!) Heavenly Father doesn’t have
lines to make you miserable. He has lines to set you free and give you the
peace and joy everyone of us desires. This video clip is geared to the young
men but it applies to all of us.
Play Within the lines.
So what happens when you
don’t stay within the lines? I read a really great talk the other day by
Spencer V. Jones. Have you heard of him? Ya neither had I. But, he told a funny
story about one time when he was a kid. Elder Jones and some of his friends
decided they would play a harmless pran on a neighbor. His conscience told him
it was wrong but he said he didn’t have the courage to tell everyone it was
wrong. So they performed their mischievous act and sprinted down a dark country
road. They made their escape laughing and congratulating themselves as they
ran. Then someone cried out “Oh no, I kicked a cat!” Almost instantly they felt
a fine mist settle over them. It carried a horrible odor. What Elder Jones’
friend thought was a cat was actually a skunk!! So now they weren’t just
running home to escape the neighbor they were now running home for some
help!!!Might I add they weren’t laughing and congratulating each other any more
either. Of course they ran right into the kitchen only to get shooed right back
out because stunk so bad. They were cast out of their own homes. They started the cleansing process right
away. They burned clothes, they took baths in tomato juice, and every other
homemade concoction the community could think of. Nothing worked to get rid of
the smell. So for days they had to sleep
outdoors in a tent and ride in the back of the pickup truck. After a while the
boys decided they smelt better and tried to approach some “normal smelling”
girls. Well lets just say the girls would not let them within yards and
shattered a few teenage egos! E. Jones said, quote “Now, I must admit that
being sprayed with a skunk in not a common consequence of sin. Most
consequences are not as immediate or dramatic. But sooner or later, for all
sin, a consequence will be paid.” End quote.
Sometimes when you sin it can even seem like you totally
got away with it! Your parents didn’t find out. No siblings were there to rat
you out…. Well did you get away with it?
E. Jones goes on to say quote “At times consequences of
sin may appear to be very subtle to the sinner. We may even convince ourselves,
as we did before approaching the girls, That no one will be able to detect our
sins and that they are well concealed. But always to our Heavenly Father and
often to spiritually sensitive leaders, parents and friends, our sins are
glaringly apparent.” End quote. If you were to take me to the high school, you
could tell me that so and so is doing this wrong and so and so is doing that
wrong. Am I right? So… Does sin stink? Yes it does!!! Just think to yourself…
are you getting away with that one favorite sin? No you’re not!! Oh but wait
sister Waters I’m not doing anything that wrong anyway!! Well let’s see what
Heavenly Father has to say about that. In Romans 3:23 it says, For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and it stinks! Oh yes I added the
and it stinks part. We are all in the same boat here. But this scripture in
Isaiah talks about that…. Isaiah 3:9 says, their countenance doth witness
against them and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom and they cannot
hide it.” Ok, that means we aren’t hiding our sins from anyone and they
definitely stink!! E. Jones said, quote “Each one of us has the Light of
Christ, or a conscience. It constantly prompts us to choose good. Good choices
yield good consequences. On the other hand, delaying repentance and continuing
to commit sin is like continuing to kick the skunk. The stench will become
stronger with each sin, alienating us further and further from God and those we
love. Soon we will become like Laman and Lemuel, who after continually making
bad choices, become “post feeling” and could no longer feel the still small
voice” end quote. If E. Jones would have listened to the spirit he could have avoided
the whole stinking ordeal in the first place.
So we now know everyone in this room as sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. So that means we are all in this together! And guess
what? There is a way out!! Heavenly Father knew everyone of us would sin! He
expected it! So he provided us a way that actually does work. Unlike E. Jones’
remedies of tomato juice and lye soap. The way that works is called repentance.
Have you heard of it? I have too!! Have you used it? So Heavenly Father,
knowing we would sin, was more than willing to send his son to die for each and
every one of us so that all of us have an equal chance to return to him. You
know we always want things in life to be fair and this is one thing that is
fair!! It is available to all of us free of charge! I love free! We just have
to be willing to do our part. You can feel better about yourself than you have
ever felt in your life! That is by simply going through the repentance process.
Now I promise we are getting to this dress! So lets talk about what happened to
this dress at girls camp. We cut it up! No really while we were at girls camp the
girls arrived there and found a wedding dress displayed in the lodge with a
picture of the temple. The dress was nicer at the beginning of girls camp
because we hadn’t cut it up yet. During the week you could see the girls taking
an interest in the dress and admiring it. Some even took their picture with it.
On Wednesday we moved the dress and picture to the amphitheater in the trees to
prepare for a devotional. During the
devotional I told a story of a girl named Sheena. She was raised in the church
and started to make a few wrong choices at the age of about 13 or 14. One thing
about Sheena is she had always dreamed of marrying her tall dark and handsome
in the temple. Even when her choices with Mr. Gorgeous weren’t good she still
desired that temple marriage. As Sheena made a choice that wasn’t consistent
with the FSOY we would cut off a piece of the wedding dress. Now I have to say
that the girls were horrified as we made cuts to the dress they had been
admiring all week. They were yelling no! Don’t! Don’t cut the train etc! They
were very sad every time we made a cut on the dress. I would hope that as your
friends are going through hard times and are tempted to “kick the skunk” you
would treat them as you wanted to treat the wedding dress. You were willing to
yell out and say no! Don’t do that! Please help each other by sticking together
and telling one another No! lets not do that! And say “I don’t want me or you
to kick the skunk or cut any pieces off of my wedding dress.” (oh or tux for
you boys) Remember we are all in this together. So at the end of Sheena’s story
she eventually ended up having sex with Mr. Gorgeous. And that is where I left
off with her story. We had other things to talk about and so Sheena’s story was
left unfinished. Our youth committee ask me to finish her story for you
tonight.
Well Sheena never intended on having sex before she was
married! She is a good kid! How did this happen? Well she felt terrible! She
felt like there was this big black hole sucking her in and that there was no
way out.
Play You will be freed
This very thing happened to Sheena. She had been ensnared
by Satan and now she didn’t even know how to get out of the mess she was in.
She didn’t want to feel this way. So she did the only thing she could think to
do. And that was to pray. So Sheena prayed for the first time in a long time.
XXXX
She prayed and cried for
quite a while that night. Sheena never wanted to feel this way again. She was
ready to move on and not repeat what had happened. XXXXX She decided she would
read about repentance in the FSOY.XXXX She learned that “Repentance is more
than simply acknowledging wrongdoings, It is a change of mind and heart. It
includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is
motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments.”
XXXXX As she continued reading there was a paragraph there to tell her what to
do. It says, “To repent, you need to confess your sins to the Lord. Then seek
forgiveness from those you have wronged, and restore as far as possible what
has been damaged by your actions. As you strive to repent, seek help and
counsel from your parents. Serous sins, such as sexual transgression or use of
pornography, need to be confessed to your bishop. Be completely honest with
him. He will help you repent. If you have a question about what should be
discussed with the bishop, talk with your parents or with him.” So now Sheena
knew she couldn’t take care of this on her own. She needed the bishops help.
Sheena was so scared to call her bishop but she did and set an interview with
him. XXXXX Sheena knew he would help her out and she was right. First he told
her he was glad she called. So Sheena was able to meet with the bishop and
talk.XXXXX After she was done talking
with the bishop she felt so good and peaceful. She hadn’t felt that peaceful in
a long time. She knew she was on the right track. XXXXXXX That black hole that
was trying to suck her in was gone and she felt like she was full of light.
XXXXX Sheena also promised the bishop that she wouldn’t have a boyfriend just
like it says in the FSOY. So Sheena called Mr. Gorgeous and told him she didn’t
want to see him anymore. XXXXXX Sheena still had a lot to accomplish but she
felt so much better already. She met with her bishop once a week to help stay
on track. XXXXX In one of their meetings he reminded her of something else the
FSOY says about repentance. Quote “ Some people knowingly break God’s
commandments, planning to repent later, such as before they go to the temple or
serve a mission. Such deliberate sin mocks the Savior’s Atonement.” End quote.
The bishop thanked Sheena for not procrastinating her repentance. He also told
her of the importance of keeping the Savior in the process. Without Him repentance isn’t possible. XXXXX
So Sheena made it through the rest of her teen years and ended up marrying her
“tall dark and handsome” in the temple all because she was willing to do all
that she was ask to do to be totally forgiven. It wasn’t easy but it was so
worth it!!!
So is Sheena’s dress the same? No its not! But is Sheena
still eligible for everything Heavenly Father has because she is repenting? Yes
she is! We are going to have scrapes and bruises along the way and yes every
one of us is going to “kick the skunk” from time to time! But don’t let Satan
make you think there is no hope for you because there is!! In the FSOY is says
“Satan wants you to think that you cannot repent, but that is absolutely not
true. The Savior has promised you forgiveness if you will humble yourself and
make the effort that repentance requires.” So don’t lose hope! You just have to
go through the steps that Sheena took.
1st She felt super bad for what she did. She
had sorrow!
2nd She knew she didn’t want to repeat the sin
again so she made a resolve to not repeat this again. This is called
abandonment of sin- or she simply gave it up. (so far so good)
3rd Sheena knew she had to confess her sin to
the bishop. Now if your sins aren’t the type you have to confess to the bishop
you do need to confess to the Lord. Be very careful to not leave the Lord out
of your repentance. Because if you do your repentance can’t be complete without
the Saviors Atonement.
The 4th step is restitution for sin. That
means if you stole something you should give it back and apologize. If you
damaged something you should restore it to its proper state. If you are willing
to do this it shows the Lord you are truly repenting and not just getting
caught and going through the motions. There is a difference. If you get caught
doing something and your repentance is forced. (meaning you wouldn’t have
repented if you didn’t get caught) You may feel angry at the situation. Is
anger part of repentance? No! So when you voluntarily go through repentance
even though you didn’t get caught or if you did get caught but want to repent your
feelings are pure and you are more willing to have your heart in the right
place. And with your heart in the right place you will desire to be obedient to
all Heavenly Father asks. (that doesn’t mean we are perfect at it!) It just
means we are striving. That’s all he asks.
Obedience is step 5! That my friends is the repentance
process! We all need it! Our souls all want it! It is free to all who are
willing. Are you willing? Because if you are a great peace and joy can fill
your life. So, is there something in your life that is bugging you? What is
your favorite sin? Now is the time to get rid of it! You can be free! That’s
what Heavenly Father’s lines provide is freedom and peace and joy. Who doesn’t
want some of that? So when you go to school help one another as much as
possible to not “kick the skunk!” And sometimes we even have to stand alone…
Play Stand Alone
I lovingly plead, as E. Jones
said “Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance” Start the process now.
Remove the stench of sin with the remedy of repentance. The, through the
Atonement, the Savior can wash you clean.”
Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm
Dare to make it known!
I would also like to add Dare
to repent! I say these things in the name…….
