Studying Repentance Part One | The Red Headed Hostess

Over the next few weeks I will have a series of tutorials of different ways to use your TOPICS journals.

All of the tutorials will be about REPENTANCE.  I am hoping to show you different ways you can be creative in your studying, and keep things fresh and fun.

(Even if you don’t have one of these journals… I hope this will still show you some ways to consider studying your scriptures.)

 

Today’s post is the most basic of them.  This is how I study different TOPICS most of the time.

The first thing I did was I wrote at the top of the page “Repentance

The “…is change” came later as my journal entry progressed down that path.  When I started studying, I didn’t know it would go there yet.

 

Then I looked up the definition of “Repentance” in the Bible Dictionary and wrote it in this space.

This is where things started turning in my mind…

 

I really like that definition… so I decided to write that down.

You don’t have to have something amazing to say to write down.  You just start writing… and then the good stuff comes.

“I really like the definition of REPENTANCE.  It comes from the Bible Dictionary and that explains what the Greek word means”

(The definition is:  A change of mind.  A fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world)

  • “It teaches that Repentance has taken place when you have changed.  I think a lot of people confuse repentance with confession – that is just a part of it.  Repentance is a conversion process…  a process of changing… you are now different than you were before
  • “And now, you are going to have a different mind.  You will see God differently, yourself differently and the world differently.
  • “If we want to see this in action, look at the Brethren.  They are not men who have been perfect their whole lives, but rather men who have continuously applied the Atonement in their lives and repented.
  • “They have had the humility to see where they have been wrong and then have had the courage to change it.
  • “I believe the Celestial Kingdom  is going to be full of true realists.  Souls who saw things as they really and and were.  Including themselves.  They didn’t try to pass the buck and blame their mistakes on others.  They saw it, took accountability, and however painful – went through the converting (changing) process of repentance.”

All of those thoughts came from just the definition.  However, on a different page it may have been a quote or a scripture that prompted the most thoughts.  It will change from page to page.

At this point I started looking up some scriptures.  Because of the path I was taking on this particular page, I found a couple of scriptures that really applied here:

  • 1 John 1:8  “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
  • Proverbs 30:20  “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.”

Then as I looked up scriptures, I received some more insights, and I continued to write them down.

As I write, I highlight things (using a colored pencil) that I really want to stand out.

I think to myself:  “If my children were to read this page, what would I really want them to understand?”  That question helps me narrow down to the vital things that really matter.

Like when I was writing about Alma the Younger a couple paragraphs later:

  • “I love how we can see how powerful repentance can make someone.  Without it, Alma would have remained a foolish man – a slave to his worldly desires.  But instead he became one of the great heroes of the Book of Mormon because he allowed the Atonement to change him.”

I really want my children to understand that.  And I am hoping that one day they will read it in my journal – sure I will try and teach it to them, but this just may be the time and place they really listen.  I don’t know – I just want to make sure I have plenty of tools.

After I finished writing, I knew a quote that I wanted to go on this page.

“One of the questions we must ask of our Heavenly Father in private prayer is this: ‘What have I done today, or not done, which displeases thee?  If I can only know, I will repent with all my heart without delay.’  That humble prayer will be answered.  And the answers will surely include the assurance that asking today was better than waiting to ask tomorrow.”  (Elder Henry B. Eyring, “Do Not Delay,”  Ensign, November 1999, p.33)

As you may notice, there is still some room for another quote,

and still some room for some more scriptures.  My goal is never to have every part of the page filled.  I know that if I find a scripture or a quote, even months or years from now, I have a place to put it on this page.  I am not going to find something just to fill it up – it is waiting for the right thing.

 

So after I got a clear view of the path this particular page took concerning repentance, I gave it a subtitle and added it to the top.

Now I know what facet of repentance this page is about.

But the next page might be different.  I will just have to wait and see….

 

 

 

 

 

14 comments

  1. Thank you! I devouring your insights and teachings. As always, I have been inspired to dive into the scriptures and learn never-ending truths.

  2. Hey Shannon,

    I bought the scripture study journal, is that different from the topics journal?
    My pages don’t look like yours in the photo’s.

    I love how much you know about the scriptures, and that you are sharing your knowledge with all of us. Hopefully one day I will be “well seasoned” in the scriptures, like you.

    Thanks, Shondra

  3. Shannon, I have been watching the video that you made about Scripture Journals and I would love to know the name of the brand you suggested. I know you said that you can’t find it, but maybe here in Missouri we have a few in stock somewhere. Do you have another favorite brand?

  4. My favorite quote about repentance comes not from on of the 12, but from Hugh Nibley. He says: The righteous are who ever are repenting. What do you repent of and how do you repent? It’s all a matter of seeking. When you repent you turn from seeking some things to seeking others. What you seek are the desires of your heart and as Alma says, by that alone you will be judged. (Alma 41:3) because Nibley is not an apostle I’ve found scriptures that validate that.

    Here is another one: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sence of God, ot takes off your relish for spiritual things, what ever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that this is sin to you, however innocent is may seen in itself. -Susan Wesley, mother of Johh Wesley.

  5. Hi Shannon –
    I have been ‘blog stalking’ for sometime – but just HAVE TO SAY, I think you should ‘write a book’ on all your journals – I think they are intriguing and amazing. You are truly inspirational and am learning so much from you. Just was released from YW and wish I was still in to share all you have to offer. Keep up the GREAT JOB and I am a ‘lifer’ as a blog follower. Hugs!

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