Sometimes the most difficult thing about change is letting go of our past mistakes and allowing ourselves to be better. People change. Although this statement is true, we don’t always act like it is. Sometimes we dwell on our mistakes. Sometimes we hold on to our regrets. Sometimes other people… Continue reading
We’ve been taught to treat our bodies as sacred gifts from God. But what help has God promised us when we struggle to love our bodies and ourselves? We’ve all had those days—or maybe even months or years—when we just aren’t happy with how we look. Maybe we wish we… Continue reading
Because of the Savior, we have infinite opportunities to learn from our mistakes. We all make mistakes. But this fact is not a mistake in the plan of salvation for humankind. In his talk “Until Seventy Times Seven,” Elder Lynn G. Robbins explains that “repentance isn’t [God’s] backup plan in… Continue reading
Rather than focusing on our mistakes and losing hope, we can discipline ourselves with kindness in a Christlike way. At the end of one long week, I sat quietly in a pew waiting to take the sacrament. The familiar words of the prayers went in one ear and out the… Continue reading
We can increase our personal happiness today by taking the needed steps to become more holy. “Keeping the commandments makes you happier.” At times, this may feel like a line said by well-meaning parents and leaders simply because they want us to improve our behavior. In fact, we may think… Continue reading
Sometimes repenting is the easy part; believing you’re forgiven is what’s difficult. Think about your garbage can. No, seriously. What’s in it? How does it smell? What do you use it for? If you’re anything like me, right now it might contain spoiled leftovers, empty cans and bottles, and a… Continue reading
Repentance can be a joyful choice when we choose to regulate our lives with the task manager provided by God. 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… Continue reading
What keeps us from always feeling the Spirit? Recently, I was reading emails and letters that I wrote while I was a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remembered how I felt as I wrote them—and how I felt all the time when I… Continue reading
Christ wants to heal our spirits completely—all we have to do is repent. When my six-year-old brother broke his arm, he immediately thought, I bet Dad can fix it! My dad is not a doctor, but in my brother’s mind, he can do anything. While my brother was a little… Continue reading
How do you know when you’re forgiven? In many LDS homes, a favorite activity for teaching children about repentance involves food coloring. In this object lesson, parents bring out a glass of water and add a few drops of food coloring to it, tainting the water to represent what happens… Continue reading
