Elder Spencer W. Kimball declared: "There is no royal road to repentance, no privileged path to forgiveness. Every man must follow the same course whether he be rich or poor, educated or untrained, tall or short, prince or pauper, king or commoner. . . . There is only one way. It is a long road spiked with thorns and briars and pitfalls and problems" (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 149 Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 38; italics in original).

We Must Confess Our Sins
We must confess all our sins to the Lord. In addition, we must confess serious sins, such as adultery, fornication, robbery, homosexual relations, spouse or child abuse, and the sale or use of illegal drugs - which might affect our standing in the Church, to the proper priesthood authority. 

We Must Keep the Commandments of God
To make our repentance complete we must keep the commandments of the Lord (see D&C 1:32). We are not fully repentant if we do not pay tithes or keep the Sabbath day holy or obey the Word of Wisdom. We are not repentant if we do not sustain the authorities of the Church and do not love the Lord and our fellowmen. If we do not pray and are unkind to others, we are surely not repentant. When we repent, our life changes.

Elder President Kimball said: " Repentance means not only to convict yourselves of the horror of the sin, but to confess it, abandon it, and restore to all who have been damaged to the total extent possible; then spend the balance of your lives trying to live the commandments of the Lord so he can eventually pardon you and cleanse you" (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 200) "First, one repents. Having gained that ground he then must live the commandments of the Lord to retain his vantage point. This is necessary to secure complete forgiveness" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, 43).


Additional Scriptures

• D&C 19:15-20 (the Lord has commanded us to repent so we will not have to suffer as He did)