Repentance can be a joyful choice when we choose to regulate our lives with the task manager provided by God.
Photo by Padli Pradana
Have you ever encountered the frustrating experience of an unresponsive computer? If you have, you probably know that pressing Control-Alt-Delete on a PC (or Command-Option-Escape on a Mac) is the solution to the problem. This command brings up the Task Manager, which allows you to see the status of all currently running programs and then to terminate any of them by selecting End Task or Force Quit.
Repentance is like a Task Manager: a way for us to be forgiven and to heal after we’ve committed sins that leave us feeling frozen. Repentance allows us to see the status of our habits and gives us the option to force quit any sins that may be freezing up our joy.
In an inspirational message called “Repentance: A Joyful Choice,” Elder Dale G. Renlund discusses how repentance can be a joyful choice because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He recounts that after making a mistake as a child, “I felt horrible. I was embarrassed, and I knew that what I had done had displeased God.” After he repented, his painful feelings turned into joyful ones.
Through the Atonement, Jesus Christ has provided the how of repentance. It’s our responsibility to choose to hit the proverbial Control+Alt+Delete. Elder Renlund invites us to do this so we can “feel more joy in [our lives]: joy in the knowledge that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real; joy in the Savior’s ability, willingness, and desire to forgive; and joy in choosing to repent.”
Watch “Repentance: A Joyful Choice” to see how Elder Dale G. Renlund came to understand the joy that comes from repenting.
Source: Mormon Channel
—Leslie Owusu, Mormon Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY ILYA PAVLOV
Find more insights
Read Elder Dale G. Renlund’s talk “Repentance: A Joyful Choice” to learn about the four things that may be impeding our repentance.
Read the talk “Do You Know How to Repent?,” by Elder Jay E. Jensen, to learn how to repent.
Watch the video “Painted into a Corner” to hear Elder Robert D. Hales talk about how repentance can heal us.