Godly Sorrow, Following Your Conscience, and Having a Healthy Spirit

(Elder Cummings)

Dear Family and Friends,

As per a rule-clarification I now have an additional half hour to email every Monday.  My time management skills have not been helped by this and I am still stuck running out of time and writing this at the last minute.

This has been a wonderful week!  Elder Perkins and I were able to participate in mission leadership council and discuss with other zone leaders about the work and to find together the direction the Lord would have us guide this mission.  It was a unique experience. There are many great things happening in the California Fresno Mission!

This week I have seen many people we visit come to recognize their actions as sins.  Whether they be large or small, this theme of repentance motivated by what is termed "godly sorrow" for what they have done has been reoccurring.

I have been giving some thought as to why that "godly sorrow" is necessary in repentance.  Why is it a requirement for us to feel remorse and guilt in order to put our sins and misdeeds behind us?

I found that to answer that question, you first have to ask "Where does godly sorrow come from?"

"When we sin, we feel remorse or guilt, just as we feel physical pain when we are wounded.  This is the natural response of our conscience to sin, and it can lead us to repent." (Guide to the Scriptures "Conscience")

To more completely comprehend that statement we need to understand the church's definition of the conscience.  The conscience is a manifestation of the Light of Christ that helps us to discern from good and evil.  The Light of Christ is the influence of Jesus Christ that is "in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things" uplifting, ennobling, and enlightening (D&C 84:41).  So, the influence of Jesus Christ that is inherently in ALL people naturally brings us to feel remorse and guilt for mistakes we make.  The sorrow we feel is godly in part because it comes directly from the influence of a god.  It can lead us to repent!

"We are to learn to follow our conscience.  This is an important part of exercising our agency.  The more we follow our conscience the stronger it will become.  A sensitive conscience is a sign of a healthy spirit." (Guide to the Scriptures "Conscience").

Repentance is making an actual change.  It requires us to change our desires and our behavioral patterns.  Because of the guilt we feel when we sin we are blessed with an opportunity to follow our conscience and repent.  Our conscience therefore will become stronger, we will be spiritually healthier, and we will be more resistant to the persistent temptations of Satan.  I am so grateful that we are allowed to grow in this way!  I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us.  All things are possible because of Him.  He lives!

-Elder Jared Cummings