Repentance question.Inactive member

[hordak]

So i was born and raised in the church, baptized at 8 and ordained a deacon when i was 13.

Then i hit high school and my priorities changed. I stopped going to church and struggled with the word of wisdom for a while, committed some other sins but was able to leave them behind with some maturity. Now my wife is getting baptized and i have come back to the church but i have some questions. I will be having an interview with the bishop to see if i am worthy to hold the Priesthood soon. Should i confesses all my sins going back to when i left the church? I understand that confession is an important part of repentance and i can see why when the problems are fresh and you need to ease the burden and gain some accountability however many of them i was able to repent of and forsake 4-5 years ago. Last Sunday we had had a talk about not letting the past mistakes burden us and i think it holds true to this issue. In my heart i only feel i have one thing that is holding back my eternal progression and it is the one thing i haven't been able to quit.Smoking.

So do i go in there and lay it all on the table and give him my life story or just the things which still hold me back?

[Elgama]

my personal response would be say to go in and take the questions the Bishop asks you at face value, answer them as honestly as you can. We have other members that have been Bishop's though and can tell you more. But trust the keys your Bishop has.

-Charley

[WillowTheWhisp]

I would be inclined to ask the Bishop the question you have asked in the opening post here. If he needs to know more he will ask you, if he does not he will reassure you.

[SmilingRedhead]

I would be inclined to ask the Bishop the question you have asked in the opening post here. If he needs to know more he will ask you, if he does not he will reassure you.

That's exactly what I was going to say :)

[Palerider]

after reading everything....I believe you have your question answered and I say "ditto" to whats been said. Good Luck with your interview!!!

[WillowTheWhisp]

By the way, welcome back. :)

[NeuroTypical]

Should i confesses all my sins going back to when i left the church? I understand that confession is an important part of repentance and i can see why when the problems are fresh and you need to ease the burden and gain some accountability however many of them i was able to repent of and forsake 4-5 years ago.

I have personal experience in confessing past sins to my bishop that I left behind years ago. My vote is do it. I am very glad I did it. There is just something about saying the words out loud, to one of the Lord's representative, that has a healing and cleansing power.

FYI, here are the steps of repentence we teach out of the Gospel Principles book:

How Do We Repent?

We Must Recognize Our Sins

We Must Feel Sorrow for Our Sins

We Must Forsake Our Sins

We Must Confess Our Sins

We Must Make Restitution

We Must Forgive Others

We Must Keep the Commandments of God

We've repented after we've done all this stuff, not just some of it.

LM

[rickg]

Yes, been there, am doing that. I asked a past Bishop what all I need to talk about, how far back to go, ect. He actually left it mostly up to me. But he was most concerned with my current issues, not what happened 10 years ago. If I had a list of sins going back that far, and had truely left them behind, he was satisfied with that. We tend to be tougher on ourselves than a Bishop(or the Lord), so he said I'd probably already more than paid for those sins. I suppose adultry and murder would need to be dealt with, but anything less than that could be considered a done deal.

But, as other have said, talk it over with the Bishop, and go from there. One thing I have done, is have a prayer just before going in to my Bishops office, and ask that the Spirit would guide the discussion, and that anything that needed to be dealt with would come up. Sounds simple, but it works! I had something I'd almost forgotten about come to my mind in one interview, and it did nned to be talked about. So try that.

[lilered]

Yes, been there, am doing that. I asked a past Bishop what all I need to talk about, how far back to go, ect. He actually left it mostly up to me. But he was most concerned with my current issues, not what happened 10 years ago. If I had a list of sins going back that far, and had truely left them behind, he was satisfied with that. We tend to be tougher on ourselves than a Bishop(or the Lord), so he said I'd probably already more than paid for those sins. I suppose adultry and murder would need to be dealt with, but anything less than that could be considered a done deal.

But, as other have said, talk it over with the Bishop, and go from there. One thing I have done, is have a prayer just before going in to my Bishops office, and ask that the Spirit would guide the discussion, and that anything that needed to be dealt with would come up. Sounds simple, but it works! I had something I'd almost forgotten about come to my mind in one interview, and it did nned to be talked about. So try that.

++

Great advise learned by your own expierence.:)

[Guest tomk]

So i was born and raised in the church, baptized at 8 and ordained a deacon when i was 13.

Then i hit high school and my priorities changed. I stopped going to church and struggled with the word of wisdom for a while, committed some other sins but was able to leave them behind with some maturity. Now my wife is getting baptized and i have come back to the church but i have some questions. I will be having an interview with the bishop to see if i am worthy to hold the Priesthood soon. Should i confesses all my sins going back to when i left the church? I understand that confession is an important part of repentance and i can see why when the problems are fresh and you need to ease the burden and gain some accountability however many of them i was able to repent of and forsake 4-5 years ago. Last Sunday we had had a talk about not letting the past mistakes burden us and i think it holds true to this issue. In my heart i only feel i have one thing that is holding back my eternal progression and it is the one thing i haven't been able to quit.Smoking.

So do i go in there and lay it all on the table and give him my life story or just the things which still hold me back?

My gut reaction to this was -- why are you coming to us? This is between you, your Bishop, and the Lord.

If you are completely repentant you won't hesitate to mention those things to your Bishop. How long it's been does not matter.

If I were you I would print your post and hand it to your Bishop when you interview with him.

Tom

[WANDERER]

I can understand why : ) .

Okay the past things,they are dealt with, but they may come up in the interview. They don't have any hold on you anymore and they won't have a hold on you or gain power if you talk about them or if someone else thinks that they still have an influence on your life. What's dead is dead. It might add a bit of closure, y'know. If a mistake is made in terms of the hold these things have on your life...well...it doesn't make your achievement or journey any less, and you can call on that grace to help you through it. I'm not sure if you're going to have to go through that. Hopefully not. But you can do it, you've already done it.

The current thing, the smoking, well I'm sure your Bishop will want to help you to quit. You may not think you can. What happens if you can't. I have absolutely no idea.

[manxman]

serious sin-moral transgression, murder, theft, conspiracy, drugs, abortion, abuse of others, WoW.... certainly tell your bishop, less serious stuff, if it's gone, let it go. Remember he has gifts to assist him, prepare by fasting and prayer beforehand, this will help you discern what needs to be discussed.

[Guest Topspin]

Repentance is one of the most misunderstood principles of the gospel.

[pam]

My gut reaction to this was -- why are you coming to us? This is between you, your Bishop, and the Lord.

If you are completely repentant you won't hesitate to mention those things to your Bishop. How long it's been does not matter.

If I were you I would print your post and hand it to your Bishop when you interview with him.

Tom

Why not come to us? The questions were valid enough and some that I'm sure many others out there have as well. Plus we get different perspectives from those that have "been there done that."

[Guest Leeanntheone]

Repentance is all about dieing to self. Dieing to your wants so that you can be alive to do what God wants. Having said that, I must say when you have done your best to die to self, only God can kill you so that you can be alive in Him.

In my opinion,

Leeann;)

[lostnfound]

So i was born and raised in the church, baptized at 8 and ordained a deacon when i was 13.

Then i hit high school and my priorities changed. I stopped going to church and struggled with the word of wisdom for a while, committed some other sins but was able to leave them behind with some maturity. Now my wife is getting baptized and i have come back to the church but i have some questions. I will be having an interview with the bishop to see if i am worthy to hold the Priesthood soon. Should i confesses all my sins going back to when i left the church? I understand that confession is an important part of repentance and i can see why when the problems are fresh and you need to ease the burden and gain some accountability however many of them i was able to repent of and forsake 4-5 years ago. Last Sunday we had had a talk about not letting the past mistakes burden us and i think it holds true to this issue. In my heart i only feel i have one thing that is holding back my eternal progression and it is the one thing i haven't been able to quit.Smoking.

So do i go in there and lay it all on the table and give him my life story or just the things which still hold me back?

There is one mediater between you and God and that man is Jesus Christ. You no longer need to go to any priest to confess sins. Jesus is now our high priest.

[Hemidakota]

So i was born and raised in the church, baptized at 8 and ordained a deacon when i was 13.

Then i hit high school and my priorities changed. I stopped going to church and struggled with the word of wisdom for a while, committed some other sins but was able to leave them behind with some maturity. Now my wife is getting baptized and i have come back to the church but i have some questions. I will be having an interview with the bishop to see if i am worthy to hold the Priesthood soon. Should i confesses all my sins going back to when i left the church? I understand that confession is an important part of repentance and i can see why when the problems are fresh and you need to ease the burden and gain some accountability however many of them i was able to repent of and forsake 4-5 years ago. Last Sunday we had had a talk about not letting the past mistakes burden us and i think it holds true to this issue. In my heart i only feel i have one thing that is holding back my eternal progression and it is the one thing i haven't been able to quit.Smoking.

So do i go in there and lay it all on the table and give him my life story or just the things which still hold me back?

Nothing is impossible and now that you are sharing your burdens upon others, I do commend you in seeking help.

As someone already said, see your local Bishop for guidance. Do not allow anything to stop your progression back on to the path. You will be surprise how the atonement does work in our lives.

[MaidservantX]

The fact that you still have a list of sins on your mind -- I think they still bother you to a more or less degree. I think you will have peace of mind getting them out in the open with your bishop -- a safe, spirit-filled environment. It may help you to forgive yourself, more than a need to receive forgiveness from God (who has already forgiven you).

[Hemidakota]

True. Some, would request forgiveness from years ago with a formal repentance and confess the sins that may be more than four years old [example]. What happens in this case, it requires the Holy Spirit in guiding the Stake President, Bishop or Branch President, in seeking a corrected measure. What I have found in most cases, the Spirit would already give the confirmation of forgiveness but now, it is time to teach the member how to seek forgiveness for him/herself before the Lord. It does require time and great faith in seeking such.

[Canuck Mormon]

There is one mediater between you and God and that man is Jesus Christ. You no longer need to go to any priest to confess sins. Jesus is now our high priest.

It's not so much of a mediator than a counselor. The Bishop helps you through the repentance process to get you back on track. We don't run to him with every little sin we did. If it is something serious that we need guidance on how to proceed, that's when we go to him. I hope that explains it for you lostnfound.

[Misshalfway]

That's exactly what I was going to say :)

Me too! Ha ha ha!

Don't be afraid to lay it all out with the bishop. The fact that you are thinking about it tells me that perhaps you really want to somewhere inside of you. Perhaps it would be like emptying all of it out of your soul and symbolically leaving it all behind. I don't know. Just follow that HG voice inside of you and trust it! Be humble to whatever it leads you to do....it is leading you to freedom.

And that smoking thing.....cake walk! Right? Nothing is too hard for the Lord!!!!

This is a happy story. Your wife is getting baptized and you are heading home! It is a beautiful thing!

[lostnfound]

It's not so much of a mediator than a counselor. The Bishop helps you through the repentance process to get you back on track. We don't run to him with every little sin we did. If it is something serious that we need guidance on how to proceed, that's when we go to him. I hope that explains it for you lostnfound.

Actually that was very well put. Thank you for letting me know that. There are other reglions that do just that confess sins to a priest. :)

[jgainer]

My Bishop interviewed me for Priesthood after 3 months of activity.I had been inactive for 21 years. I admitted to not keeping law of chastity. He asked how long had it been and I answered honestly and he said ok. I decided to confess to things that had occurred 10-15-20 years ago. Adultry, fornication,etc. Nothing bad happened. I fely better for it. My Bishop wept with me and gave me a blessing. I have a Temple recommend now!!

[crytsprospect]

Awesome for you... I have found when one is honest and repentant nothing is impossible and our fear is Satans way of keeping us from the Church

[Hemidakota]

The Savior has granted me over the years with the opportunity in interviewing Saints who seek to come back to activity and especially them who are return missionaries, seeking repentance before the Savior. We do learn much by the hands of the Savior, His charitable and merciful acts to those who are humbled and sincere with repentance. It does bring tears every time when a man/woman is approachable and honest before the Savior in his accounting of misdeeds. As judges of Israel or wearing the title of Christ, acting in His name, through His Spirit and voice, we share the burdens of others and the pains of sufferings of the misdeeds. The best part does come when we both feel the mighty Spirit sweeping over the repented brother/sister when the eyes begin to swell and embracement of that Spirit fills both with joy and purity of love.

Jgainer, welcome home my friend. Now, be a daily exemplar to those who need your help.