Why does repentance seem so negative?
According to Elder Theodore M. Burton the most basic principles of the gospel can be those least understood. A basic and fundamental principle of the gospel is repentance (Ensign, August 1988. The Meaning Of Repentance).
In and out of the church repentance carries a negative meaning. When an ecclesiastical leader stands before his congregation and exhorts the members to repent, as a general rule they do not feel comfortable, at peace, or spiritually motivated about his call to repentance.
Why?
Why does repentance carry negative feelings, feelings of fear, trepidation, anxiety, and a propensity to flee the other direction? What about repentance drives us to the fetal position or into a man cave and away from happiness and light?
It’s pride I think, at least for myself. We want to be “successful”, we want to do a “good job” in the things we do. The need for repentance tells us that we messed up, that we are below the expected standard. That is the state I am in when I resist correction. On the other hand, repentance is quite liberating, when I am in the right frame of mind i.e. hunble enough to receive correction. Liberating from the albeit impossible perception that I can be perfect in and of myself and that I can move forward with the acknowledgement of my imperfections and the Savior’s power to forgive, because of His atonement.
I’ve heard it said that making a mistake can be a great experience if you learn from it. Pride would be the only hinderance to the lesson. Is it possible to train the mind to view the need for repentance as another learning experience on the path to exaltation? Who trained us to treat mistakes with such disdain and negativity? Why else were we born if not to make mistakes?
Going along the lines of learning from mistakes, I’ve heard the definition of an expert as the person who has made the most mistakes in a narrowed field of study.