They Were Filled With Joy

Elder Craig C. Christensen taught this in the most recent general conference: “Repentance brings joy because it prepares our hearts to receive the influence of the Holy Ghost. To be filled with the Holy Ghost means to be filled with joy. And to be filled with joy means to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Our joy increases as we work daily to bring the Spirit into our lives.” In other words, if we want to find joy, we should seek to have the Spirit with us, and in the process we will be filled with joy. He quoted this prayer from the father of King Lamoni in the Book of Mormon which confirms the connection of these two things: “Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day?” (Alma 22:15) He seemed to understand that if he could be filled with the Spirit, he would find joy. The Savior also made this link between the Spirit and joy when He said this to Hyrum Smith in our dispensation: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy” (Doctrine and Covenants 11:13). As we come to have His Spirit with us to guide us, it will fill our souls with joy. As Paul taught, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).

                Elder Christensen also taught that there is a “connection between joy and repentance,” and the scriptures speak of that as well. He referred to the example of Alma who after repenting he declared, “I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy” (Alma 36:19-21). Not only does the sinner receive joy as they repent, but the Lord also is joyful when this happens. He taught in mortality: “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7). The Lord declared in our dispensation, “How great is [the Savior’s] joy in the soul that repenteth!” Not only will the Lord obtain joy when one repents, but those disciples who help and teach them will as well: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:13, 15). Alma witnessed that he indeed experienced this joy of seeing others repent when he wrote, “This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy” (Alma 29:9-10). He was full of joy because he saw others obtain joy through their repentance.  

Ultimately these three things—repentance, the Spirit, and joy—are interrelated and come together as we seek them. This is what happened to the people of King Benjamin after they heard his words. They saw their sins and repented in these words, “O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.” In response to that prayer, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come” (Mosiah 4:2-3). Their repentance brought the Spirit of the Lord upon them which then filled them with joy as they obtained a remission of their sins. And it all is made possible because of Jesus Christ who has come and atoned for those sins so that we can be cleansed. As we seek repentance through Him we too can obtain forgiveness, feel the Spirit of the Lord, and experience joy in this life and the next.