Daily Repentance: What It Is and How It’s Helping Me Find Lasting Joy

By Alexander Benitez

What was the point of repenting every day if I just kept making the same mistakes?

When I was younger, I made a lot of mistakes.

In Uruguay, I wasn’t surrounded by many spiritual people or places, so I stepped off the covenant path and looked for happiness elsewhere. But one day, I thought about the choices I was making. I realized the happiness I was experiencing was fleeting—I had always experienced greater joy when I was striving to follow Jesus Christ.

I wanted to change.

I told Heavenly Father that I was sorry for my sins. But I soon became discouraged when the changes I was trying to make didn’t come as fast as I wanted them to. Then I remembered President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to “discover the joy of daily repentance.”

I had never focused on daily repentance before, but I decided to try to learn more about it.

What Is the Point of Daily Repentance?

When I first started repenting daily, I wasn’t sure what the point of it was. I would repent of my sins, but often, the next day I would make the same mistake again. I wondered, “Why should I repent if I can’t change my bad habits immediately?”

I went to Heavenly Father and told Him my concerns and asked why He wants us to repent every day. I felt the Spirit communicate to my mind that each time I repent, the Savior gives me a chance to start over. President Nelson also said: “Repenting is the key to progress. Pure faith keeps us moving forward on the covenant path.”

Repenting is not about getting things perfect; it’s about continuous reliance on Christ to change our natures over time! I realized that even if I make the same mistakes, when I sincerely repent of my sins and try to change, He will help me progress little by little.

Sister Kristin M. Yee, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, said: “If you are struggling with a situation you think you should have overcome by now, don’t give up. Be patient with yourself, keep your covenants, repent often, seek the help of your leaders if needed, and go to the house of the Lord as regularly as you can. Listen for and heed the promptings He sends you. He will not abandon His covenant relationship with you.”

The Joy of Daily Repentance

Another thing that has helped me focus on daily repentance is attending the temple. I love the power that we receive when we make covenants with the Lord, and I have felt that power in my life as I choose to have faith in what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help me do.

By focusing on Them each day and having patience with myself, I have felt my relationship with Them grow stronger. Kneeling and talking to Heavenly Father every night about what I am trying to change and acknowledging His hand in my life has also helped me feel the joy of the gift of the Savior’s Atonement.

There is a certain joy that comes from being made clean by our Savior through recommitting to our covenants and His commandments. Through our efforts to change and our reliance on Him, we can seek His help to break seemingly unbreakable habits, ask for forgiveness, and forgive ourselves.

Sister Yee also reminds us: “Each day is a new day filled with hope and possibilities because of Jesus Christ. Each day you and I can come to know, as Mother Eve proclaimed, ‘the joy of our redemption’ [Moses 5:11], the joy of being made whole, the joy of feeling God’s unfailing love for you.”

I have felt Heavenly Father’s love more than ever with my deepened testimony of daily repentance. Nothing makes me want to keep progressing more than realizing the Savior always extends His hand to me each time I turn to Him for forgiveness and help. I am far from perfect, but I feel my heart change when I start each new day with a desire to learn and do better.

Knowing that we all sin, I am grateful for the Savior’s grace and for the joy that His mercy brings into my life each day.