“All men, everywhere, must repent” (Moses 6:57)
A Definition
I don’t know that we can get a better definition than the one that President Nelson that pointed out: “The word for repentance in the Greek New Testament is metanoeo. The prefix meta– means ‘change.’ The suffix –noeo is related to Greek words that mean ‘mind,’ ‘knowledge,’ ‘spirit,’ and ‘breath.’
“Thus, when Jesus asks you and me to ‘repent,’ He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies” (“We Can Do Better and Be Better,” (Ensign, May 2019, 67). [The Hebrew word for “breath” is neshemah, but the meaning of this word goes far beyond the simple exchange of air in the lungs in Hebraic thought. To the ancient Hebrews, the breath is the character of the individual (Benner, Living Words 1:46)].
The most common word for repent in Hebrew is Hebrew verb nacham “which means to be sorry, to be moved to pity, to grieve, to console or comfort oneself, or to have compassion for others” (Spendlove, “Turning to the Lord With the Whole Heart,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 20 (2016), 179). However, another Hebrew word for repent is shuv and first appears in the Bible in Genesis 3:19. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return (shuv) unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (shuv).
Repent in the Scriptures
The Old Testament, particularly Jeremiah and Psalms, mentions shuv and its variations over one thousand times. Sometimes, the word simply means a person returns from the place he had left. For example, God said to Jacob, “Return (shuv) unto the land of your fathers” (Gen 31:3). However, this common biblical phrase also urges God’s children to abandon idolatry and return to Him, often promising restoration and His complete blessings. “And shalt return (shuv) unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” (Deut 30:2, 3).
The word repent, in its various forms (repenting, repented, repentance, etc.) shows up with differing rates of recurrence within the scriptures. Repent appears with much greater frequency in the Book of Mormon than it does in the Old or New Testaments. If one places all three books on the same footing . . . the disparity between the Book of Mormon and the Bible becomes even more apparent. . . the normalized usage of repent in the Book of Mormon is four times greater than in the New Testament and nearly eighteen times greater than in the Old Testament” (Spendlove, “Turning to the Lord With the Whole Heart,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 20 (2016), 177–78).
When we read repentance we can read “turn unto the Lord”. “Except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God” (Mosiah 11:23)
Elder Renlund and Repentance
Elder Renlund illustrates the blessing of repentance: “Fifty years ago, we attended church in a large remodeled home. One Sunday, my friend Steffan, the only other deacon in the branch, greeted me at church with some excitement. We went to the chapel’s adjacent overflow area, and he pulled from his pocket a large firecracker and some matches. In an act of youthful bravado, I took the firecracker and lit the long gray fuse. I intended to snuff out the fuse before it blew up. But when I burned my fingers trying to do so, I dropped the firecracker. Steffan and I watched in horror as the fuse continued to burn.
The firecracker exploded, and sulfurous fumes filled the overflow area and the chapel. We hurriedly gathered up the scattered remnants of the firecracker and opened the windows to try to get the smell out, naively hoping that no one would notice. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no damage was done.
As members came to the meeting, they did notice the overpowering smell. It was hard to miss. The smell distracted from the sacred nature of the meeting. Because there were so few Aaronic Priesthood holders—and in what can only be described as dissociative thinking—I passed the sacrament, yet I did not feel worthy to partake of it. When the sacrament tray was offered to me, I took neither the bread nor the water. I felt horrible. I was embarrassed, and I knew that what I had done had displeased God.
After church, the branch president, Frank Lindberg, a distinguished older man with silver-gray hair, asked me to come to his office. After I sat down, he looked at me kindly and said he had noticed that I had not partaken of the sacrament. He asked why. I suspect he knew why. I was sure everyone knew what I had done. After I told him, he asked how I felt. Through tears, I haltingly told him I was sorry and that I knew I had let God down.
President Lindberg opened a well-worn copy of the Doctrine and Covenants and asked me to read some underlined verses. I read the following out loud:
“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 if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.”
I will never forget President Lindberg’s compassionate smile when I looked up after I had finished reading. With some emotion, he told me that he felt it would be fine for me to resume partaking of the sacrament. As I left his office, I felt indescribable joy” (“Repentance: A Joyful Choice,” Ensign, Nov, 2016, 121—22).
Repentance and the Full Treatment
We often forget that one aspect of repentance is effort. C.S. Lewis explained: “When I was a child I often had toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother—at least, not till the pain became very bad. And the reason I did not go was this. I did not doubt she would give me the aspirin; but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist next morning. . . . And I knew those dentists;. . . Our Lord is like the dentists. . . . Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of. . . . Well, He will cure it all right: but he will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment” (Mere Christianity, 173-74).
Elder Featherstone and Turning to the Lord
Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone told a story that illustrates this turning to the Lord. “Shortly after I had been called to the Presiding Bishopric, an Arizona stake president told me he had a young missionary candidate who needed to be interviewed for worthiness. …
“As I invited the young man into my office, … I said to him: ‘Apparently there has been a major transgression in your life. That’s why I am involved in this interview. Would you mind being very frank and open and telling me what that transgression was?’
“With head held high and in a haughty manner he responded, ‘There isn’t anything I haven’t done.’
“I responded: ‘Well, then, let’s be more specific. Have you been involved in fornication?’
“Very sarcastically, he said, ‘I told you I’ve done everything.’
“I asked, ‘Was it a single experience, or did it happen with more than one girl and more than once?’
“And he said again, sarcastically, ‘Many girls and so many times I could not number them.’
“I said, ‘I would to God your transgression was not so serious.’
“‘Well, it is,’ he replied.
“‘How about drugs?’
“‘I told you I’ve done everything.’
“Then I said, ‘What makes you think you’re going on a mission?’
“‘Because I have repented,’ he replied. ‘I haven’t done any of these things for a year. I know I’m going on a mission because my patriarchal blessing says I’m going on a mission. I’ve been ordained an elder, I’ve lived the way I should this past year, and I know that I’m going on a mission.’
“I looked at the young man sitting across the desk: twenty-one years old, laughing, sarcastic, haughty, with an attitude far removed from sincere repentance. And I said to him: ‘My dear young friend, I’m sorry to tell you this, but you are not going on a mission. Do you suppose we could send you out with your braggadocio attitude about this past life of yours, boasting of your escapades? Do you think we could send you out with the fine, clean young men who have never violated the moral code, who have kept their lives clean and pure and worthy so that they might go on missions?’
“I repeated: ‘You’re not going on a mission. In fact,’ I said, ‘you shouldn’t have been ordained an elder and you really should have been tried for your membership in the Church.’
“‘What you have committed is a series of monumental transgressions,’ I continued. ‘You haven’t repented; you’ve just stopped doing something. Someday, after you have been to Gethsemane and back, you’ll understand what true repentance is.’
“At this the young man started to cry. He cried for about five minutes, and during that time I didn’t say a word. (By the way, let me suggest that there are times during an interview when it would be inappropriate to say anything—when we should just wait, and listen, and watch, and let the person do some soul-searching and thinking.) I just sat and waited as this young man cried.
“Finally he looked up and said, ‘I guess I haven’t cried like that since I was five years old.’
“I told him: ‘If you had cried like that the first time you were tempted to violate the moral code, you may well have been going on a mission today. Now, I’m sorry, I hate to be the one to keep you from realizing your goal. I know it will be hard to go back to your friends and tell them you are not going on a mission.
“‘After you’ve been to Gethsemane,’ I continued, ‘you’ll understand what I mean when I say that every person who commits a major transgression must also go to Gethsemane and back before he is forgiven.’
“The young man left the office, and I’m sure he wasn’t very pleased; I had stood in his way and kept him from going on a mission.
“About six months later, I was down in Arizona speaking at the institute at Tempe. After my talk many of the institute members came down the aisles to shake hands. As I looked up I saw this young man—the nonrepentant transgressor—coming down the aisle toward me, and at that moment the details of my interview with him came back through my mind. I recalled his braggadocio attitude, his sarcasm, his haughtiness.
“I reached down to shake hands with him, and as he looked up at me I could see that something wonderful had taken place in his life. Tears streamed down his cheeks. An almost holy glow came from his countenance. I said to him, ‘You’ve been there, haven’t you?’
“And through tears he said, ‘Yes, Bishop Featherstone, I’ve been to Gethsemane and back.’
“‘I know,’ I said. ‘It shows in your face. I believe now that the Lord has forgiven you.’
“He responded: ‘I’m more grateful to you than you’ll ever know for not letting me go on a mission. It would have been a great disservice to me. Thanks for helping me.’” (A Generation of Excellence, 156–59).
