Righteous vs. Wicked? It's Simpler Than You Think

What’s the real difference between the righteous and the wicked?
In this mini episode, we talk about a simple but powerful truth: the difference isn’t perfection—it’s repentance. As active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we share insights from the Book of Mormon and quotes from Sister Tamara W. Runia’s most recent General Conference talk, “Your Repentance Doesn’t Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy.”

This episode is a reminder that righteousness is less about where you are, and more about which way you're facing. Whether you feel strong in your faith or like you’re starting over, repentance is the path—and it’s filled with hope.

Show Notes (clickable links)

General Conference talk by Sister Tamara W. Runia Titled, "Your Repentance Doesn't Burden Jesus Christ; It Brightens His Joy."

Transcript

Candice Buchanan 

Welcome to the Sisters Latter-day Voices podcast. I'm Candice. And I'm Clare. And this is a mini episode that we're going to do about the difference between the righteous and the wicked people. The scriptures, especially in the Book of Mormon, talks a lot about the righteous and wicked people, the Nephites and the Lamanites and the pride cycle and sometimes the Nephites will be more righteous than the Lamanites and there are other times when the Lamanites will be more righteous than the Nephites. We were talking about the pride cycle in church a couple of years ago and a sister made a comment that I really liked. She said that when she was younger, she was reading the Book of Mormon and she kept thinking about, well, what's the difference between righteous people and wicked people? I mean, they're all trying. 

Most people usually believe that what they're doing is right. So what's the difference? What makes someone righteous and what makes someone wicked? And she said the thought came to her that it's actually pretty simple. The difference between the righteous and the wicked is that the righteous people are repenting. It's not that they're better than the wicked people. We're all imperfect and we all make mistakes, but the difference is that people who are righteous are repenting. They're turning to God and they're trying. 

I have loved that and I like to think about that especially anytime that I'm being hard on myself. Or thinking that I'm not good enough. I just think, okay, I'm trying. All I have to do in this life is I have to keep trying. As long as we do that, we're still working together. Towards, a good thing. And I think sometimes it's hard for people to admit that they're wrong. 

Clare 

I think it always is. And so it's just like in a relationship with. My husband and I, it's hard, it's harder, it's easy to say, uh, I'm right, but it's harder to say, I'm sorry, I messed up, I am wrong, which hardly ever happens, but.

So perfect. Yes, so perfect. But it's hard. So I also think when you're coming to Heavenly

Father, it's still hard and you have to take that pride away and repent. 

Candice 

Yeah. And our old stake president, he was the stake president for I think seven plus years and he was giving a talk in our ward and he said that one of the things that he was thinking about like what of all the people that he worked with during the repentance process as a stake president he was thinking, what gets in people's way the most? And he thought if he had to pinpoint it on one thing, it would be pride. Pride is the number one thing in his opinion of stopping people from going through that repentance process. Because for whatever reason, that's blocking them. You have to humble yourself to be able to admit when you are wrong, that is tough. I thought that was a comforting thought that it really is so simple. And to continue repenting. And I really love the talk by Sister Runia. I don't know if I'm saying her last name correctly. but it's titled Your Repentance Doesn't Burden Jesus Christ, It Brightens His Joy. And it's such a great talk that I couldn't choose just one quote. So we have three that we're going to share.

Clare 

Three great quotes. The first quote is, "The invitation to repent is an expression of God's love. Saying yes to that invitation is an expression of ours." 

Second quote, "No one can sink lower than the light of Christ shines. The Savior is forever brighter than the darkness of shame. He would never attack your worth. Your worth isn't tied to obedience. Your worth is constant. It never changes. It was given to you by God and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change it. Obedience brings blessings. That is true. But worth isn't one of them. Your worth is always great in the sight of God, no matter where your decisions have taken you."

Number three, "Everyone is diving with their own degree of difficulty and your Savior is the only one who truly knows the difficulty you are diving with. I want a relationship with the one person who gets me, who knows my heart and how hard I am trying."

Candice

We just wanted to leave you with that thought, and we will see you next time. We hope you know God loves you.