It seems like an exaggeration– that if I repent, then my Father in Heaven suddenly doesn’t remember what I did anymore.

But what if He really does forget my sin because I am no longer the person who sinned?

When I am truly and fully repenting, with my whole heart and soul, then I am actually changing.

My heart is changing.

My will is changing.

I am a new person. There has been a shift in who I am and what I want.

And so my perfect Divine Father isn’t going to hold something over my head that I no longer am.

It just wouldn’t make sense.

That weight is no longer a part of me.

That is the true beauty in repentance.

When I sincerely and humbly decide that I am ready to become a more spiritually mature individual, then I can.

Because my Savior already paid the price of justice.

He knows what the sin feels like, with the full force of consequences and pain and regret.

(Which is why I’ll praise Him forever.)

And through His suffering, I am freed to change. To use His power to mold and mend who I am.

So that judging me based off of my past seems completely irrelevant.

Remembering it and letting it hold a weighty place in my mind seems immature and myopic.

There is just no point.

I am no longer that person.

I am someone who is more Christlike. Someone with a softer heart and a more contrite spirit.

I repent and change, and I am forgiven.

I am new.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Real repentance first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.