Repentance
There are two types of birth: physical and spiritual. One is just as real and just as essential as the other. Jesus said that unless a person is born again (that is, spiritually born), he cannot see the Kingdom of God. The Lord was not referring to baptism alone, but to that inner change that must take place in each of us if we are to enjoy eternal lie and exaltation, and if we are to gain true peace and happiness in this life. To achieve this spiritual birth we must repent of our misdeeds, of our wrong thoughts words and actions, of all our unworthy attitudes and habits, and renounce all our unworthy and less worthy objectives in life. We must determine to seek first the Kingdom of God, to be obedient to all God’s commandments, whether or not we at first fully appreciate them, agree with them, or understand them. We must strive to know and do His will continually. It is easy and a common practice in life to rationalize. To truly repent we must turn away from all our rationalization and self-justification. We must realize that when we sin we sin against our own soul, causing turmoil and conflict within ourselves. We must realize that since we are literally children of God, thus possessing divine attributes, we can live harmonious, happy lives only when we lie in accordance with the divine laws He has given to us, and that we must repent of anything that is keeping us from so living. Only then can we really begin to gain a testimony. What a glorious principle repentance is. What a horrible, dark world we would become engulfed in without it, for only through repentance can we achieve God’s forgiveness of our sins and enjoy His sweet spirit as a guide and comfort. The Lord gives us this great promise: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know I a man repenteth of his sins – behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:42-43). In Alma and Paul, two of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Christian Church, had each been guilty of gross misconduct but repented of their sins, and subsequently gained powerful testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (John J. Stewart, “How You Gain a Testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in The Glory of Mormonism [Salt Lake City: Mercury Publishing Company, Inc., 1963], 211-49, here, p. 220)
