Table of Contents
- What is Repentance
- Why Do We Need to Repent
- How to Repent
- Heavenly Father invites me to repent and change. (Younger children)
- Heavenly Father invites me to repent and change. (Older Children)
- The Lord chastens those He loves. (Sr)
- Godly sorrow leads me to repent. (Sr)
- Godly sorrow leads to real change.
- Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help me correct my mistakes.
- When I make a wrong choice, Jesus Christ can help me change.
- Because of Jesus Christ, I can repent and be clean.
- Because Jesus suffered and died for me, I can repent and be forgiven.
- Because Jesus suffered and died for me, I can repent and be forgiven.
- Repentance is a change of heart.
- Jesus can Take the Burden of Sin Away if We Repent
- The Lord wants to forgive.
- The Lord is merciful when I repent.
- The Lord is willing to forgive me if I repent.
- I can pray to be forgiven.
What is Repentance
Friend April 2023 “Repentance” What is repentance and how is it possible. Also, the steps of repentance.
Ensign February 2019 “Ten Tips for Teaching Repentance” Teaching children about repentance.
Why Do We Need to Repent
No unclean thing can enter into [God’s] kingdom
For the Strength of Youth March 2024 “The Miracle We Need Every Day” (Lesson ideas) If God loves us, why does He ask us to change and repent? Here are some truths about sin and Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
Friend July 2020 “What’s on Your Mind” A child writes the Friend and asks, “I’ve never done anything really bad. Do I still need to repent?” See the link for the Friends response.
Friend November 2018 “For Older Kids” Quiz question about the scripture that says sins can go from scarlett to white.
Sin causes pain and suffering
Friend August 2017 “For Parents of Little Ones” Teaching little ones empathy and how to apologize and make things right after they have hurt a someone.
When we make wrong choices it’s harder to feel the Holy Ghost
How to Repent
Goal Cards
Friend July 2020 “My Family Night Fun”
Ensign August 2020 “Family Study Fun” Flip a Choice: Read Alma 42:4 together and talk about how this life is a time for us “to repent and serve God.”
- Sit in a circle and give each family member three index cards.
- On two of the cards, write good choices. On the third card, write a bad choice.
- Turn the cards face down and mix them up in the middle of the circle.
- Take turns flipping over one card at a time. When someone reads a good choice, give the person a high-five (or another gesture that means “Good job!” in your culture).
- When someone reads a bad choice, the person shares something they could do to repent and serve God instead.
Discussion: Testify that Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to change and become better people. How can we use our time this week to follow Him and serve God?
Friend April 2023 “What’s on Your Mind?” Repenting for a wrong choice takes more than just saying sorry. It means turning your heart to God and trying to fix your mistake.
Friend April 2024 “I Can Follow Jesus by Saying Sorry”
Find the pieces below in the bigger picture. When have you said sorry after making a wrong choice?
More Repentance teaching ideas.
Heavenly Father invites me to repent and change. (Younger children)
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Acts 6-9” When Jesus told Saul to stop persecuting the Lord’s Church, Saul immediately repented and changed. How can this account help the children you teach desire to quickly change when they make a mistake?
Summarize the story of Saul’s conversion, found in Acts 9:1–20 (see also “Chapter 59: Saul Learns about Jesus,” in New Testament Stories, 154–55, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
- Friend August 2019 “Paul Repents”
Talk with the children about things that change, such as a tadpole, which changes into a frog, or a caterpillar, which changes into a butterfly. Show pictures, if possible. How did Saul change when Jesus Christ visited him?
Draw a forked road on the board. Invite the children to name places they would like to visit, and write them at the top of one road. What would happen if we turned onto the wrong road? Compare repentance to getting back on the right road.
- Friend February 2018 “Back on the Trail” Danilo doesn’t listen to his aunt about which trail to follow and he gets stuck. (Story also provides lesson questions.)
- Story: A man named Saul tried to destroy Jesus Christ’s Church. Then he repented and changed his life. He became a missionary and taught people about Jesus Christ. He became known as Paul. (See Acts 9:1–20.)
- Song: “I Know My Father Lives” (Children’s Songbook, 5)
- Activity: Get some dirt on your hands. How does it make you feel when your hands are dirty? Next, wash your hands with soap and water. Washing our hands is like repentance. Because of Jesus, we can repent and be clean again after we sin.
Ask the children to repeat what Saul said to the Lord: “What wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). What does the Lord want us to do?
Heavenly Father invites me to repent and change. (Older Children)
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Acts 6-9” When Jesus told Saul to stop persecuting the Lord’s Church, Saul immediately repented and changed. How can this account help the children you teach desire to quickly change when they make a mistake?
Invite the children to fold a piece of paper in half. Ask them to write Before on one half and After on the other half. Read with the children Acts 8:1–3; 9:1–2; and 9:17–22, and ask them to write down words or phrases that describe Saul before and after he saw the Lord.
Invite a ward member to share his or her conversion story and how being a member of the Church has changed his or her life, as Saul’s life was changed.
Draw a “road to Damascus” on the board. Invite the children to read Acts 9:6, 11, 18, 20–22, searching for what Saul did to repent and turn to Christ, and write these actions along the road. What do we learn from Saul about how we can become more like Christ?
- “Lesson 42: The Conversion of Saul,” Primary 7: New Testament What did Saul do to repent and turn to Jesus Christ? What do we need to do to repent of our sins? Discuss the following points (you might list them on the chalkboard):
- He recognized his sins. (Acts 9:6.)
- He fasted and prayed for forgiveness. (Acts 9:9, 11.)
- He was baptized. (Acts 9:18.)
- He tried to correct the things he had done wrong. (Acts 9:20.)
- He changed and never persecuted people again.
- Explain that Saul was not wicked in his heart; he was deceived. He needed to repent and be baptized.
The below story could be related to the story of Saul’s path to repentance.
- Friend February 2018 “Back on the Trail” Danilo doesn’t listen to his aunt about which trail to follow and he gets stuck. (Story also provides lesson questions.)
Invite the children to draw their favorite part of the account of Saul’s conversion and share their drawing with the class.
- Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Acts 6-9” (To read Saul’s own description of his conversion, see Acts 22:1–16 and 26:9–18. As you read his story, ponder why he was so willing to change.
- Acts 9:5. A prick was a sharp spear used to drive animals. Often the animals would kick back when pricked, which would cause the spear to sink even further into the animal’s flesh. How might this analogy sometimes apply to us? What can we do to better accept correction from the Lord?
The Lord chastens those He loves. (Sr)
These verses can help the children understand that Heavenly Father, their parents, and others correct them because they love them and want them to learn from their mistakes.
Read together Hebrews 12:5–11, and ask the children to find reasons why Heavenly Father chastens us (corrects or disciplines us). What does this teach us about why earthly parents also correct their children? How should we respond to loving correction? (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Hebrews 7-13” )
We are his sons and daughters and he loves us and wants what is best for us.
Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path. …
… If we are open to it, needed correction will come in many forms and from many sources. It may come in the course of our prayers as God speaks to our mind and heart through the Holy Ghost [see Doctrine and Covenants 8:2]. It may come in the form of prayers that are answered no or differently than we had expected. Chastening may come as we study the scriptures and are reminded of deficiencies, disobedience, or simply matters neglected.
(D. Todd Christofferson, “As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 98, 100)
Share examples of people in the scriptures who were chastened by the Lord and repented (for example, see 1 Nephi 16:25–27; Ether 2:13–15). How are they good examples of the principles in Hebrews 12:5–11? (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Hebrews 7-13” )
25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly achastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.
Lehi is Chastened
One day while Nephi was hunting, his steel bow broke. The families could not get food without it. Nephi’s brothers were angry with him and the Lord.
They were all very tired and hungry. Some of them were sad and complained. They were scared that they would starve. Even Lehi complained to the Lord.
Nephi made a new bow and an arrow out of wood. He had faith that the Lord would help him find food.
Nephi asked Lehi where to go to hunt. Lehi was sorry that he had complained. He repented and asked the Lord for help. The Lord told Lehi to look at the Liahona. A message was written on it. The families learned that the Liahona only worked when they had faith in the Lord and obeyed the commandments.
The Lord sometimes changed the message on the Liahona to help them during their travels. The Liahona helped Nephi know where to hunt. He brought back food to eat, and they were all happy. They repented and thanked the Lord.
The Brother of Jared is Chastened
After reading Hebrews 12:5–11, invite the children to write down a few things they will try to remember when they are corrected for their mistakes. (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Hebrews 7-13” )
Godly sorrow leads me to repent. (Sr)
Explain that in 2 Corinthians 7:8–10, Paul referred to a letter he had previously written to the Saints, boldly warning them about their sins. Read these verses together. Why was Paul glad that the Saints were sorrowful? Point out that this kind of sorrow is called godly sorrow.
It’s natural to feel ashamed or embarrassed when we are caught doing something wrong. Help the children distinguish these feelings from godly sorrow, which leads to repentance. (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “2 Corinthians 1-7” )
Add extra bricks and leaves for the flower activity below using the following information:
Worldly sorrow leads us to self loathing, pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades us to give in to further temptation.
Godly sorrow inspires change and hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When we feel godly sorrow, we recognize our shortcomings and want to do better.
“True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. Yes, heartfelt regret and true remorse for disobedience are often painful and very important steps in the sacred process of repentance. But when guilt leads to self-loathing or prevents us from rising up again, it is impeding rather than promoting our repentance.” (Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “You Can Do It Now!,” Liahona, Nov. 2013, 56.)
The Apostle Paul taught, “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation … but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Friend September 2023 “Come, Follow Me Activities”
New Era September 2019 “Godly Sorrow”
Ask the children to think about a time when they did something wrong and felt bad about it. Invite them to ask themselves, “Why did I feel bad?” and then share their answers. Write their answers on the board (for example, “I was afraid I would get in trouble” or “I knew I had disappointed Heavenly Father” or “I made someone cry”). Which of the answers on the board seem like “godly sorrow”? (2 Corinthians 7:10). Why is godly sorrow better than other kinds of sorrow we can feel after doing something wrong? (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “2 Corinthians 1-7” )
Start the below video at 1:33. It explains why Godly Sorrow is better than Worldly Sorrow.
Godly sorrow leads to real change.
When Mormon saw his people’s sorrow, he hoped they would repent. But “their sorrowing was not unto repentance” (Mormon 2:13)—it was not the kind of godly sorrow that leads to real change (see 2 Corinthians 7:8–11). Instead, the Nephites felt worldly sorrow (see Mormon 2:10–11).
Mormon saw that the wicked Nephites were sorrowful, but their sorrow was not the kind that would inspire them to repent (see Mormon 2:13).
Write the following headings on the board: Sorrow that leads to repentance and Sorrow that doesn’t lead to repentance. Invite the children to take turns reading verses from Mormon 2:8, 10–15. Help them write things they learn about sorrow under the appropriate headings on the board. How can we make sure that the sorrow we feel for our sins leads us to change?
Lamentations 1:1–2, 16; 3:22–26
As the book of Lamentations poetically describes, we often feel sorrowful when we sin. These feelings can inspire us to change and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness. (The book of Lamentations is a collection of poems written after the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.)
- Explain to the children that because the Israelites had not repented, Jerusalem and the temple there had been destroyed. Ask the children to talk about how they might have felt if they had been living in Jerusalem at that time. Read together Lamentations 1:1–2, 16. What words and phrases in these verses help us understand how the Israelites might have felt? How might the message in Lamentations 3:22–26 have given them hope?
- Ask the children to think about a time when they have felt sad for a bad choice they made. What do they find in Lamentations 3:22–26 that helps them know the Lord is willing to forgive them?
The Apostle Paul taught, “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation … but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
When we feel godly sorrow, we recognize our shortcomings and want to do better. We feel hope for the future—and feel the Savior’s love for us.
Worldly Sorrow vs. Godly Sorrow
“Worldly sorrow pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades us to give in to further temptation.
“Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart. It causes us to hate sin and love goodness. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the light of Christ’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. Yes, heartfelt regret and true remorse for disobedience are often painful and very important steps in the sacred process of repentance. But when guilt leads to self-loathing or prevents us from rising up again, it is impeding rather than promoting our repentance.”
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “You Can Do It Now!,” Liahona, Nov. 2013, 56.
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help me correct my mistakes.
Ask the children to share an experience when they got hurt. What did they do to help their injury heal? Explain that sin injures our spirits, but the Savior can heal us when we repent.
Lesson 24: Alma Counsels His Son Corianton
When I make a wrong choice, Jesus Christ can help me change.
PSALM 51 David pleads for forgiveness after he went in to Bathsheba—He pleads, Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 Help the children understand that mistakes are part of mortal life and that we can receive help from Jesus Christ to overcome them.
- Share a simple story, from your life or from the Friend or Liahona, about a child who made a wrong choice but received help from the Savior to be better (for example, see the video “The Shiny Bicycle” at ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Read Psalm 51:10, and share the joy you feel when the Savior helps you have “a clean heart” and “a right spirit.”
- Show the children this week’s activity page. Point to each picture, and ask the children to describe what they see. Read the captions to help the children learn about repentance and forgiveness.
Because of Jesus Christ, I can repent and be clean.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Isaiah 1–12” Isaiah lived in a time when many of his people had turned away from the Lord. But the Lord promised them that their sins could be forgiven if they repented. He makes this promise to us as well.
- Ask the children to read Isaiah 1:2–4 and talk about some of the reasons the Lord was not happy with the people of Judah. Then read Isaiah 1:16–19 together to learn what the Lord invited the people to do. As needed, help the children understand difficult words and phrases. To help them visualize verse 18, display something bright red and something pure white. What do we learn about Jesus Christ’s mercy from these verses? Invite the children to share how they feel about Jesus Christ’s gift of forgiveness, and share your feelings as well.
Friend February 1996 “Matt and Mandy”
See also: New Era February 2016 “Scarlet, Crimson, Snow, and Wool”
- Help the children memorize Isaiah 1:18. Write the verse on the board, and invite the children to recite it several times, erasing one word each time until they can recite it from memory. You could also use paper strips with words from the verse written on them. Why is it important to always remember what this verse teaches? Discuss how being baptized and partaking of the sacrament make this promise available to us.
Have a child cover the words below with paper strips after each time the class repeats the scripture.
Object lesson: Because of Jesus Christ’s Atonement, we can repent.
Because Jesus suffered and died for me, I can repent and be forgiven.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 Although children under age eight are not yet accountable, it is important for them to start learning now how to repent of the wrong choices they make.
- Summarize Luke 23:32–33, 39–43, and help the children find the two thieves in picture 57 in the Gospel Art Book. Explain that when the first thief made fun of Jesus, the second thief admitted that he had done something wrong—he was beginning to repent.
Ensign January 2018 “Repentance is a Gift” Match each picture with a different step of repentance.
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 19:16 to the children. Why did Jesus suffer for us?
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
- Show the video “The Shiny Bicycle” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Explain that we can pray to Heavenly Father and He can help us fix our sins and mistakes and receive forgiveness.
- Let the children make chalk marks on the board to represent wrong choices. Then ask them to erase the board to represent repentance. Show a picture of the Savior, and testify that we can repent because of Him.
Friend February 2019 “A Little Better Every Day” Heavenly Father can help us make better choices every day. That’s part of what it means to repent! Match the wrong choices with the better choices these kids made the next day.
Because Jesus suffered and died for me, I can repent and be forgiven.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 This lesson is a good time to testify that because of Jesus Christ, we can repent of our sins and be forgiven.
- Invite a child to read aloud Luke 23:32–33, 39–43. Explain that the two people being crucified with Jesus were thieves. How did one of the thieves show that he was beginning to repent? What can we do to show that we are repenting? (See Guide to the Scriptures, “Repent, Repentance,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)
The Red Crystal Great lesson ideas!
- Write the following sentence on the board, leaving blanks for the italicized words: “I can be forgiven when I repent because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” Give the children clues to help them fill in the blanks.
- Invite a child to hold a bag, and fill it with rocks as the other children name wrong choices someone could make. Help the children compare the bag to the spiritual burden we carry when we sin. How is repentance like taking rocks out of the bag? You might remind the children that repentance is not a one-time event but a daily process.
Friend December 2022 “Lighten Your Load”
- Look in a recent issue of the Friend magazine for a story or message about repentance, and share it with the children.
Friend February 2021 “Repenting and Trying Again” After yelling at his brother for breaking his toy, Raymond remembered what the bishop had said during his baptism interview, “We all make mistakes. But we can repent and try again.” Raymond apologized to his little brother for yelling.
Friend October 2020 “Tyler Tries Again” Tyler feels bad about joining in laughing at the new kid when he asks to play. He knows that mistakes happen but we can fix them. He decides to go say sorry and ask the new boy to play.
Repentance is a change of heart.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022
- Assign each child to read one of the scripture references on this week’s activity page. Ask them to find words that teach them something about repentance. Let them write the words on the board. After everyone has shared, ask the children how they would answer a friend who asks, “What does it mean to repent?”
- Draw a heart on the board. Ask the children to name some sins that Satan tempts us to commit. Write those sins inside the heart. Ask the children to find the word heart in Psalm 51:10, 17. What do these verses teach us about repentance? (see also verse 6). Help the children understand that even if we stop committing sin, our hearts need to change in order for us to repent. Ask the children to erase the sins in the heart on the board and to write new words that describe the change in our hearts when we repent. Share your testimony that God can “create in [us] a clean heart” when we repent (verse 10).
- Consider how you might teach your family what it means to have a broken heart. For example, family members could take turns breaking open something that has a hard shell, like an egg or a nut. How are our hearts sometimes like that shell? How can we open our hearts to the Lord? Reading Psalm 51 together might provide some ideas. (Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Old Testament 2022)
Liahona August 2022 “What Can Psalm 51 Teach Us about Repentance?”
Latter Day Kids “Repentance and A New Heart” Lesson ideas
Jesus can Take the Burden of Sin Away if We Repent
Friend December 2022 “Lighten Your Load” Tape sin labels to rocks or a can and put them in the backpack as you read them. Pass the backpack to everyone so they can see how heavy it is. Take turns removing an object from the bag. When it’s your turn, say what someone could do to repent or follow Jesus. When the bag is empty, pass it around again so everyone can feel how light it is.
The Lord wants to forgive.
When we sin, Satan wants us to think that the Lord will never forgive us. Help the children build their faith that the Lord is “ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 86:5).
- Show a picture of the Savior (such as one in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families), and ask the children what words they would use to describe Him. Invite them to find words that describe Him in Psalm 86:5, 13, 15. If needed, help them define these words. What could we say to a friend who feels that God is angry at them when they sin?
- Sing with the children a song that you feel will help them understand the Savior’s forgiving nature, such as “I Stand All Amazed” (Hymns, no. 193). Share your testimony that Jesus Christ wants to forgive us.
The Lord is merciful when I repent.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Book of Mormon 2020 “Ether 6–11: “That Evil May Be Done Away”
Even though the Jaredites often rejected the prophets and became wicked, the Lord always forgave them when they humbled themselves and repented.
- Read together Ether 9:28–35, and help the children think of three or four short sentences that summarize what happened in these verses. Then read Ether 11:5–8, and help the children identify similarities between the two accounts. What do we learn from these stories?
The Lord is willing to forgive me if I repent.
Doctrine and Covenants 60:7; 61:1–2, 36; 62:1
Joseph Smith and other leaders of the Church were not perfect. Sometimes they argued and were impatient (see “Ezra Booth and Isaac Morley,” Revelations in Context, 133). But the Lord was merciful to them and always offered forgiveness if they repented.
- Read with the children Doctrine and Covenants 60:7; 61:2, and ask them to find words that these verses have in common. Remind the children that these revelations were given to Joseph Smith and other Church leaders. What did the Lord want them to know? What do we learn from these verses about how the Savior feels about us when we make mistakes?
Friend August 2017 “Jesus Forgives” Jesus teaches Peter to forgive. Jesus forgave sins, and he forgave his crucifiers.
Friend May 2020 “Sister Squabble” Jaide’s little sister borrowed her tennis shoes without asking and accidentally got them muddy. Jaide was so mad that she told her sister, “I wish you weren’t my sister.” She felt terrible about what she said. She read a scripture about Jesus forgiving and healing someone (people who came to arrest him in Garden of Gethsemane), and she realized she needed to forgive and try and fix what she had done to her sister with her words.
I can pray to be forgiven.
It had been three years since God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in the grove, but Joseph hadn’t received any additional revelations since then. He began to wonder about his standing before the Lord. Like all of us, he had made mistakes, and he felt condemned by them.
Read with the children Joseph Smith—History 1:29. How did Joseph Smith feel about his mistakes? What did he do about them? What can we learn from Joseph’s example that can help us when we make mistakes? Ask the children how it makes them feel to know that Joseph was called by God even though he was not perfect.
What does it mean to know your “standing before [God]”? (Joseph Smith—History 1:29).
- Why is it important to think about our “standing before [God]”?
