Commitment

One of the problems we sometimes encounter when we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others is their unwillingness or inability to keep the covenants they made at the time of their baptism and confirmation. After reading Chapter 11: “How Do I Help People Make and Keep Commitments?” in the missionary handbook, Preach My Gospel, I came to the following conclusion:

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and as holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood, we have been given the commission to call the sinner to repentance. I am suggesting that it is time to do what we have been called to do. Every person that we will ever meet has the need to repent (some more than others, but all need to repent). The great majority of people we contact do not realize their need to repent. Most of the other people—those that know they need to repent—do not know how to do it.

The Spirit has revealed a very important truth to me: Most people will never make a real commitment to the Lord until they have a real understanding of their need to repent and they feel what President Kimball called The Miracle of Forgiveness. It is only after someone comes to a full understanding of the seriousness of his/her sins that he/she will make the changes in his/her life to be forgiven. After the individual gains an understanding of the reality of the Savior’s atonement and tastes the sweetness of the Lord’s forgiveness, he/she will have a desire to do the Lord’s will out of gratitude to the Savior for His great atoning sacrifice.

There have been, and always will be, people that will hear the message of the restoration of the Gospel and will be baptized without ever having had the experience I described above. Many of these people will become strong, active members of the Church. Many of these people will have experienced what can be called an “intellectual conversion”—their minds tell them the Church is true. Many others are baptized to participate in Church activities, or because of a desire to please a friend, a missionary, or a spouse. Unfortunately, until they experience the miracle of Christ’s Atonement, they are like the seeds in the Lord’s parable of the sower.

There are numerous examples to illustrate what I am writing about. It was not until Alma and the sons of Mosiah came to the knowledge of their sins that they dedicated their lives to serving the Lord. When King Lamoni’s father understood the seriousness of his sins, he prayed, “O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:18).

When I was being taught the Gospel by the missionaries many years ago, I was told that I would be expected to pay tithing, live the law of chastity, the Word of Wisdom, etc., and I made a commitment to do those things. But the sister missionaries that taught me never really explained the need to repent. As a result, I did not realize the need to go through the steps of repentance for the sins I had previously committed. I had been an active member of the Church for two years in November 1974 when I attended a Saturday night session of Stake Conference at which Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone of the Presiding Bishopric spoke very plainly about our need to repent.

Once I understood the seriousness of my sins, with the help of the Bishop of my ward, I made an honest effort to repent. In time, I felt the forgiveness of the Lord. I have been fully committed to the Church since that time. I would venture to say that many of you did not dedicate your lives to the Savior until you, too, had realized a forgiveness of your sins.

We teach of the Restoration of the Gospel. We teach that families can be together forever. We teach of the joy of service. These are all important aspects of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But central to it all is the fact that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins; forgiveness is available to all that will truly repent.

Now, am I suggesting that we should stand on a street corner and tell everyone that passes by, “You’re a sinner, and you need to repent”? No, of course not. I am suggesting that as we have the opportunity to teach people the principles of the Gospel, the Holy Ghost will tell us how to discuss with them the need and the way to repent. Listen for those promptings. Follow the advice on page 196 of Preach My Gospel:

“Be bold and confident as you invite people to make commitments (see Alma 38:12). Boldness shows your faith that obedience to the Lord’s commandments brings blessings,

People will not likely change unless they are invited to do so.”

I will also add that people often will not try to repent if they do not believe that forgiveness is really possible. It may be appropriate at times, under the direction of the Spirit, to do as Alma did on a number of occasions and share with investigators our own experiences with forgiveness. (I would suggest, however, that we do not tell investigators the nature and extant of our own transgressions.)

One of the great blessings in my life has been having the knowledge that my past sins have been forgiven and that as I continue to repent daily, Heavenly Father will forgive the sins I commit each day. I pray that we can be instruments in the Lord’s hands in helping our brothers and sisters to have this same blessing.