"The detour had kept us from a timely arrival at our destination and brought obstacles we never could have imagined." p. 133
"If we are not careful, the obstacles will deter us, discourage us, and take us away from the direction we intended." p. 133
DETOUR #1: REPENTANCE IS THE PUNISHMENT FOR SIN
"We have no ability to pay for our own sins." p. 134
"Sin causes the suffering, not the repentance." p. 134
"The suffering does not pay for our sins." p. 135
DETOUR #2: REPENTANCE IS A CHECKLIST
Elder David A. Bednar: "...we need to be careful about checklists." p. 136
"The five R's come alive when they are centered in Jesus Christ." p. 137
DETOUR #3: REPENTANCE IS MERELY STOPPING WRONG BEHAVIOR
"...the very difficult step of abandoning wrong behavior is not enough." p. 138
President Joseph F. Smith: "Men can stop sinning and can do right in the future, and so far [as] their acts are acceptable before the Lord [they are] worthy of consideration. But who shall repair the wrongs they have done to themselves and to others, which it seems impossible for them to repair themselves? By the atonement of Jesus Christ the sins of the repentant shall be washed away..." p. 138
Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "Repentance requires both turning away from evil and turning to God." p. 138
DETOUR #4: REPENTANCE ALONE SAVES US
"It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
"It is not because of the things that we do."
LANCE'S JOURNAL
22 February 2024
Went out with Hailey again last night. She's the best. We've been hanging out together for about month now. I'm so glad Emma set us up. I went to the temple again this afternoon after classes. Praying has become easier to do as I just open up to God about everything that's going on in my life. I've never really thought about praying to Heavenly Father like this before, but it's changing me. I feel like God and Jesus are trusting me more. I even told Him about that night when I dropped Hailey off at the doorstep a couple of weeks ago. I used to do stuff like that with girls in high school and never thought twice about it. I am super blessed that Hailey is so open, too. She tells me what she's thinking and how she's feeling about things. It's cool. I feel safe to be myself with her.
I was talking to Bishop Jones the other night. I had to get my temple recommend renewed. The chastity questions came up and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could answer truthfully that my thoughts and actions were morally clean and when I start to stray, I am pretty quick to pray over it and ask God for strength. It's crazy how much I think about Jesus these days, too. It used to be that I would only think about Him at church or when I would prepare to teach Sunday School or other "churchy" things, but ever since I have been trying to get TO KNOW HIM, it's like I think about Him all the time. I'll sit down for a test and pray, "Ok, I need your help, let's do this" or even when I texted Hailey after I felt like I had gone a little too far, I said a little prayer, "Help me to text the right thing. I really like this girl. I don't want to screw it up." And He's there. He's helping me and I can feel Him in a way I never have before.
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