From YA Weekly

Daily Repentance Might Sound Complex—but It Doesn’t Have to Be

By Rachelle Peterson

Church Magazines

Daily repentance sounded exhausting until I finally understood what it was.

I have heard a lot of incorrect things about repentance.

For a long time, I wasn’t really sure if I was repenting “the right way.” I had learned “steps” to repentance. But I felt like if I didn’t follow every “step” correctly, I couldn’t be forgiven for my sins.

But I also wasn’t exactly sure what the right way to repent was.

I’d tell Heavenly Father that I was sorry and ask Him for forgiveness, and while telling Him about my sins helped me feel less guilty, it also felt like a chore—just another thing to check off a spiritual to-do list. I didn’t see the point.

Daily Repentance Is … Good?

Then, a few years ago, President Russell M. Nelson said, “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance.”

This blew my mind.

I realized I’d always treated repentance like an emergency tool—to be done only when absolutely necessary. But here was the prophet saying I should be doing it every single day—and that it should feel good?

Honestly, because I thought of repentance as a long, painful list of prescriptive tasks, the thought of doing it every day sounded exhausting and even more intimidating than just playing the repentance guessing game I was used to. I still didn’t know where to start or what that could look like for me.

What Even Is Repentance?

Soon after that, I entered the missionary training center and started studying Preach My Gospel. There, I read: “Repentance is the process of turning to God and turning away from sin. As we repent, our actions, desires, and thoughts change to be more in harmony with God’s will.”

As I read that passage, the Spirit helped me realize that repentance isn’t just a checklist or something we do only after big mistakes.

At its core, repentance is change.

And that means it’s not just about sin. It means that any time I set a goal to become more like Jesus Christ—to grow spiritually, physically, or intellectually in a way that aligns with God’s will—I am repenting.

Now of course there are times when certain sins require us to meet with priesthood leaders for help and guidance. But when I think of daily repentance specifically, I think of it as regularly checking in with God to see if I’m doing what He wants me to do. And when the Spirit helps me see that I could be doing better, repentance means choosing to change course and seeking the Savior’s help as I stay on the covenant path.

So How Do I Repent Daily?

As I was trying to figure out what it means to repent every day, words from Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped. He said:

“Meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day—and precedes the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day. …

“At the end of our day, we kneel again and report back to our Father. … We repent and, with the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, identify ways we can do and become better tomorrow.”

In other words: Pray to God. Ask Him for guidance. Follow through. Report back. Repeat.

Here are a few ways I’m implementing that counsel in my own life:

I set weekly goals during sacrament meeting. I reflect on what I’ve done in the past week and listen to the Spirit about what I can work on improving and changing.
I set goals and plans to accomplish those goals and keep them on a whiteboard in my bedroom.
As I go throughout my week, when I pray, I discuss my goals with Heavenly Father, ask for His help in meeting them, and report back on how things are going, listening for further guidance and reassurance that I’m on the right path.

Choosing Him Every Day

We don’t become like Jesus Christ by overcoming a few big sins all at once. I think it’s the small, daily decisions to rely on Him—one percent better each day—that lead to real transformation over time.

We can choose to follow Jesus Christ every day. And when we mess up, we have the blessing of repenting, choosing to follow Him again and again, and continuously growing through it all. That is daily repentance to me.