The Joy of Daily Spiritual Growth (aka Repentance): A Church Talk

Intro

Good morning! [Personal intro]

The purpose of my talk is twofold:

1. For you to get to know us (the Tanners) better, and
2. To motivate us all to experience the joy found in daily repentance. 

To do this, I’d like to tell you three personal stories relating to President Nelson’s April Priesthood Session talk, We Can Do Better and Be Better. I have entitled my stories:

1. The Parable of the Slipped Disc
2. The Mystery of the White Notecard
3. My (Good) Video Game Habit

The Parable of the Slipped Disc

Personal Story #1: I love tennis! At age 13, my mom gave me a few compelling reasons for me to switch from playing football to tennis: First, she pointed out that the 50-100 lb weigh difference between me and my defenders would likely result in me breaking my neck. Second, she argued that playing tennis was one of the only sports that I could continue playing late into my golden years. And lastly, she paid me $100 a season to not play football. (She figured it was less expensive than paying for my medical bills.)

Fast forward 20 years. Since I began my doctorate at BYU, my skill and fascination with tennis really paid off. I paid for most of my schooling by teaching tennis at BYU, for the Riverside country club, and by teaching private lessons on the side. However, this summer, I basically stopped teaching tennis in order to focus on completing my dissertation.

Last week, I was asked by the country club to substitute teach a youth tennis class. So there I was feeding balls to a group of 36, 8-12-year-olds when my back seized and I suddenly couldn’t even bend over to pick up a ball. Fortunately for me, there were only 5 minutes left in the lesson, so I just stood on the sideline and had them do some hand-eye coordination drill to conclude the lesson. I painfully offered the students high-fives as they left, then cautiously shuffled back to my car. I was incapacitated for at least 2 full days and I’m still recovering.

How could this have happen to me?! I’m an athletic guy. I didn’t need to stretch EVERY day to simply teach a tennis class, did I? Evidently, the answer is yes. I’m getting older. And without continued vigilant physical preparation, I will not likely be able to comfortably play into my 70s or 80s, like I was expecting.

My back-pain experience reminded me of President Nelson’s reminder that we ALL need to repent—and to make repentance a daily process. He said,

Recently I have found myself drawn to the Lord’s instruction given through the Prophet Joseph Smith: ‘Say nothing but repentance unto this generation.’ This declaration is often repeated throughout scripture. It prompts an obvious question: “Does everyone need to repent?” The answer is yes.

Was President Nelson trying to teach me that repentance isn’t just employed when I am in need of spiritual rehab? Is it also a preventative tool for spiritually injury? But then I continued reading and realized that my injury-avoidant based way of thinking about repentance was just the way the Adversary would have me approach it. President Nelson continued by saying,

Too many people consider repentance as punishment—something to be avoided except in the most serious circumstances. But this feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking to Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.

Just like my mom wanted me to have a happy healthy life playing tennis into my 80s, God wants me to enjoy the joyous fruits of daily repentance. In other words, I don’t have to be doing something bad, in order to benefit from the peace and purifying power of repentance. Or in other words, repentance is not just for "those who choose to sin differently than I do." Nor is it some priceless tool reserved only for when we have fully ripened, as President Benson would say, in the Pride Cycle taught throughout the Book of Mormon. It's not some "emergency reset button" we smash once we've gotten "too far" from the iron rod.

Samuel the Lamanite, Helaman 13-16

Repentance is meant to be employed daily, by all sinners (meaning every human on earth). God the Father knows we will sin. Sin (or one of the inherent outcomes of the gift of agency) is part of the plan. In the April 2018 General Conference, Elder Lynn G. Robbins taught: “Repentance isn’t [God’s] backup plan in the event we might fail. Repentance is His plan, knowing that we will.” (Lynn G. Robbins, “Until Seventy Times Seven,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 22.) In other word, repenting isn’t evidence against us that we are substandard. It means we’re human and righteously focusing on Christ’s atoning power to save us.
President Nelson continued, saying,

Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Whether you are diligently moving along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant path, or can’t even see the path from where you are now, I plead with you to repent. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day. 

When we choose to repent…We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves…we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!

This mental shift was my biggest take away from President Nelson's talk: that repentance not only serves as a spiritual lifesaving potion to reclaim us from the chains of the Adversary; it also serves as a strengthening draught that helps get ever closer to the height of our spiritual potential. To bring back my analogy, the Savior asks us to repent, not simply to help us avoid spiritually throwing our backs out, but also to enjoy a heaven-like quality of life now, and to prepare us live with/like God hereafter. Speaking for myself, I still have a long way to go in order to love others as Jesus loves. But I feel confident that with His daily help, I will get there eventually.

The Mysterious White Notecard

Personal Story #2: Back in 2006 and 2007, when I taught high school seminary as part of BYU’s pre-service program, one of my fellow seminary teachers always had a white notecard subtly poking out of his shirt pocket. And every time his suit jacket pulled away from his chest I could catch occasional glimpses of it. It was like he was carrying a “concealed weapon” and no one else noticed (cared about) it but me. The most mysterious thing about the plain, white notecard was that despite how many times he pulled it from his pocket over the course of that school year, it never had a bend nor tear! When I approached him about it, he just kindly smiled and said it was personal. Not wanting to pry, I left it at that; at least for a while. After a full school year of stewing in my own curiosity, I finally asked him about it again on my final day. He ushered me into a quiet room and reverently pulled it from his pocket to share with me. On the card was written five things he wanted to do—that day—to become more like Christ. He had made it a habit to write a new card every morning after praying and listening to the Holy Ghost. That morning, most of the items on his card had to do with being more thoughtful to his wife and kids and others in his life.

He was an excellent example to me of the joy of daily repentance. On this topic, President Nelson said, "Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance…”

The powerful symbolism of this pristine note card impressed me. How could he manage to keep this one notecard in such excellent condition for so long? The answer is that he didn't—he couldn't. He made a new one every day. Likewise, if we are to not pick up spiritual smudges along our respective paths, we too must practice regular spiritual hygiene.

My fellow teacher was also an excellent example to me of how to know what to do to grow spiritually. He habitually harkened to (listened for and acted on) the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Thanks to the gift of the Holy Ghost, we can all know how to come closer to God if we will purify our lives and seek personal revelation. On this topic, President Nelson said,

We know what will give us greater access to the powers of heaven. We also know what will hinder our progress—what we need to stop doing to increase our access to the powers of heaven. Brethren, prayerfully seek to understand what stands in the way of your repentance. Identify what stops you from repenting. And then, change! Repent! All of us can do better and be better than ever before.

My (Good) Video Game Habit

Personal Story #3: As a child, Saturday mornings were my favorite times to play video games. The Legend of Zelda saga was my favorite. Sometimes, I would so enthralled with my digital quest that would often resist my mother’s call to eat. “One more minute!” I could call back or “I can’t; I’m at the boss.” (One time I left my game paused and came back to find one of my sisters had turned off the machine because she wanted to use the TV. And as a result I lost at least an hour’s worth of progress. And I was not ever going to let that happen again.)

Since then, I have learned to properly prioritize eternal, family relationships above temporary, worldly pleasures. When my wife comes home late at night from her job at the theater to find me playing a video game, I have a habit of immediately setting down the game controller, walking over to her, giving her a big hug & kiss, and asking her how she is feeling. I love this habit. (To be honest, it still sometimes stings sometimes when I sacrifice unsaved progress or am in the middle of a live online game and let down my teammates. But the moment I do, I feel the divine reassurance in my heart that I’ve made the right choice.)

President Nelson called for all the priesthood holders in the church ought to honor the women in our lives over personal entertainment. He said,

Another way we can also do better and be better is how we honor the women in our lives, beginning with our wives and daughters, our mothers and sisters.

Months ago, I received a heartbreaking letter from a dear sister. She wrote: “[My daughters and I] feel we are in fierce competition for our husbands’ and sons’ undivided attention, with 24/7 sports updates, video games, stock market updates, [and] endless analyzing and watching of games of every [conceivable] sport. It feels like we’re losing our front-row seats with our husbands and sons because of their permanent front-row seats with [sports and games].

When I invest in family relationships, my power in the priesthood feels magnified. My connection with the divine feels amplified. I feel like a clearer receptacle of divine instructions regarding how to preside and provide for my wife and our family.

I am grateful to be able to repent daily and feel the reassurance from the Holy Spirit that I am doing what God wants me to be doing in order to be with Him again.

Conclusion

In conclusion, President Nelson stated:

Brethren, we all need to repent. We need to get up off the couch, put down the remote, and wake up from our spiritual slumber. It is time to put on the full armor of God so we can engage in the most important work on earth. It is time to “thrust in [our] sickles, and reap with all [our] might, mind, and strength.” The forces of evil have never raged more forcefully than they do today. As servants of the Lord, we cannot be asleep while this battle rages. 

Your family needs your leadership and love. Your quorum and those in your ward or branch need your strength. And all who meet you need to know what a true disciple of the Lord looks like and acts like. 

Make your focus on daily repentance so integral to your life [white notecard] that you can exercise the priesthood with greater power than ever before. This is the only way you will keep yourself and your family spiritually safe in the challenging days ahead.

The Lord needs selfless men who put the welfare of others ahead of their own. He needs men who intentionally work to hear the voice of the Spirit with clarity. He needs men of the covenant who keep their covenants with integrity. He needs men who are determined to keep themselves sexually pure—worthy men who can be called upon at a moment’s notice to give blessings with pure hearts, clean minds, and willing hands. The Lord needs men eager to repent—men with a zeal to serve and be part of the Lord’s battalion of worthy priesthood bearers. 

[Close with personal testimony]