If Martin is to enter into God's rest he is first commanded to repent and to obey the commandments. Passive repentance is turning from evil. Active repentance is doing that which he should do. There is no other way to satisfy the law, and there is no other way to obtain God's love. Even the love of God himself cannot reach the heart that is unrepentant. (John A. Widtsoe, The Message of the Doctrine and Covenants [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969], p. 34.)
I love how repentance is defined in this quote. "Passive repentance is turning from evil. Active repentance is doing that which he should do."
A small example from my life is a habit I have been trying to change. The "Natural Man" in me is a Night Owl and for years I have know that it is better to go to bed early and get up early and study the scriptures in the morning. Early Bird gets the Worm, right? So I have been trying as of late to go to bed early (haha, right now I'm just shooting for 10:30 pm, which I'm sure is hilarious to my friend who is consistently in bed before 9 pm). But according to this definition of repentance it is not only the going to bed early that I must embrace, but also the rising early, before my children, and study my scriptures at the only time of the day when there is quiet in my house. And so you may notice that right now it is 5:44 am that I am writing this.
Not only do I need to leave the undesirable behavior behind, but I need to replace it with a behavior that will bring about good and strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
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