President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) pointed out the need to completely rely on Jesus Christ in the repentance process:
“In Alma’s account the sensitive reader can in a measure identify with him, feel his pains, experience his great sense of horror at the recognition of the depth of his sin. The reader can then share also in the great relief which Alma was to find. How did he gain this relief? In the same way every transgressor does—by partaking of the miracle of forgiveness through genuine repentance and by casting himself wholly on the mercies of Jesus Christ. …
“Now anguish was turned to joy, pain to calm, darkness to light. Only now could Alma have peace. He emphasized to his son Shiblon the sole source of that peace.
“‘… And never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul’ (Al. 38:8.)” (Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 365–66).
President Ezra Taft Benson explained that sincere repentance requires a change of heart:
“Repentance means more than simply a reformation of behavior. Many men and women in the world demonstrate great willpower and self-discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh. Yet at the same time they give no thought to the Master, sometimes even openly rejecting Him. Such changes of behavior, even if in a positive direction, do not constitute true repentance. …
“… Repentance involves not just a change of actions, but a change of heart” (“A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, Oct. 1989, 2).