Abandon sin
Obey the commandments- Be faithful and serve
Just as our Heavenly Father provided a healing process for an injured or sick body, He, through His Son, Jesus Christ, can also heal a sick soul, Elder Malcolm S. Jeppson of the Seventy said Saturday morning.
"Jesus promised those who will come to Him with full purpose of heart and repent: `I shall heal them.' " (3 Ne. 18:32), Elder Jeppsen said.
He explained that although he was a practicing physician for more than 40 years, he did not cure patients; he provided an environment for the healing power of the Lord to work.
The same source works on spiritual ailments, he added. "The Church cannot heal, priesthood leaders do not heal, only an omnipotent God can accomplish the miracle of spiritual healing."
Then he listed ingredients in a divine prescription for spiritual healing.
"The first ingredient is an acknowledgment of the cause of the spiritual malady. We call this in the healing of the physical body, the diagnosis, and it would come after a careful history and physical examination. In spiritual healing it is called confession. A careful examination of our spiritual self on a regular basis is not only worthwhile but necessary. . . .
"The second ingredient is a deep contrition and remorse for any wrongdoing we may find. . . . Yet sorrow and sadness by themselves, however, do not constitute a spiritual cure. They almost always accompany sin and transgression, however.
"A third ingredient is to seek forgiveness from those whom one has hurt by transgression." Elder Jeppsen pointed out that it is also important for the one hurt to also forgive so they will not be guilty of the "greater sin" as explained in Doctrine and Covenants 64:9.
"A fourth ingredient: There must be a total abandonment of the sin. All too often I see those who have repented slip sometime later into their old sinful ways. When that happens, previously repented sins return to those who perhaps did not really repent after all. . . .
"A fifth ingredient: There must be compliance with all the commandments of God. . . .
"Sixth, one must plead to the Lord for mercy, strength and forgiveness until one receives through the Holy Ghost a `peace of conscience.'. . .
"The final ingredient, number seven: There must be faithfulness and service throughout the rest of one's mortal life."
Elder Jeppsen concluded: "I testify that while there are physical ailments that cannot be healed, all spiritual illness can be healed because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. If we will but use the God-given ingredients to cause such healing, it will happen."
