Repent Or Suffer

“And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless.” (D&C 19:4). This sounds almost like a threat or an ultimatum - repent or suffer. But I actually take great hope from this scripture. A lot of us put off repenting because we suspect that it will entail a lot of suffering as we go through the process. But, in fact, just the opposite is true! We can either repent or we can suffer. Repentance does not heap more suffering on top of what we are already going through, but rather true and complete repentance ushers in the end of our suffering as we are forgiven and healed and lifted up by the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us therefore not believe Satan's lies that repentance will only bring us more suffering. It is not the case that there is not also some pain that sometimes comes with repentance, but it is the pain of lancing a boil or resetting a broken leg - a short, sharp pain that brings immediate relief to the prolonged agony of an unaddressed and festering wound. I hope that we will all come to recognize that between suffering and healing, between misery and joy, we know which side repentance is on, and on which side it is not. Let us choose forgiveness and healing and peace and joy. Let us choose repentance and reject suffering.