“As Often as My People Repent”

When Alma prayed to know how to deal with rebellious church members, the Lord provided some specific instructions, all of which built upon a core principle of the gospel: His willingness to forgive us.

“It is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world,” He reminded Alma; “for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand” (Mosiah 26:23). Remember who I am, he seems to be saying. This is my church, and my whole purpose is to save you.

Later, to emphasize this point, He adds the following emphatic declaration:

As often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

Mosiah 26:30

We are by definition repenters. That’s what we do as members of His church. He makes that clear earlier in his instructions, by reminding Alma that we are “baptized unto repentance” (Mosiah 26:22). So in one sense, this promise is simply an encouragement to keep doing what we’re doing: As long as you keep repenting, I’ll keep forgiving. Keep following the path of discipleship, and I’m with you, whatever mistakes you make along the way.

But I also hear another assurance in his use of the phrase “as often.” He is promising to forgive us patiently and repeatedly, as long as we keep sincerely trying to do better. It can be frustrating when we keep making mistakes, particularly when we are dealing with habits that are hard to break. We may not succeed the first time, or the second, or the third. We may feel at some point that we are trying His patience and using up our allotted quota of grace.

But the truth is that there is no quota. His grace is sufficient. (See 2 Corinthians 12:9, Ether 12:26-27, Moroni 10:32.) As often as we repent, He will forgive, and He will eventually transform us into people who don’t make those mistakes any more. But it may take time. It may not happen all at once. So we need to keep repenting.

After telling a story about repeatedly being knocked off a kayak while paddling in the ocean, Elder Dale G. Renlund testified:

Repentance is joyful and allows us to learn from our mistakes, which is how we progress eternally. We will undoubtedly have times when we flip over in our kayaks and find ourselves in deep water. Through repentance, we can get back on top and continue, no matter how many times we have fallen off. The important part is that we do not give up.

“The Powerful, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ,” General Conference, April 2024

Today, I will be grateful for the iterative process of repentance and forgiveness. I will remember that the Savior has promised to forgive me “as often as [I] repent,” and so I will avoid becoming discouraged when I make mistakes, and will try again, trusting that He will help me continue to improve.