Recently God has taught me a lot about repentance; repentance should be positive and active. What it means to be positive is to have hope that when you repent, you will be restored. Similarly to repentance, regret also allows one to reflect on wrong doings and have a heart not to do it again. However, regret is often afflicted with guilt which is concentrated on one’s own fault. The difference is that repentance is based on having faith on God’s good will and relying on his goodness.
Secondly, being active means that repentance should not be taken lightly. Words do not mean anything if you do not show it in actions. When you only partially admit the wrongs but also try and find excuses, this is not repentance.
Adam also knew his sin and hid from God when he took the forbidden fruit. However, when God asked him why he did it, Adam replied “The woman you created gave me the fruit, so I ate it”. He did not lie but it was still an excuse.
When you have an excuse, it shows that you are still not able to completely repent. It only shows that there is chance you will make the same mistake again. Repentance should be an attitude that takes full responsibility and be willing to turn away from the sin.
Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. Considering their social status at that time, this would have been seen as a humble action with sincerity. However, John shouted back at them “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:7-8) Without an attitude to change one’s behaviour, it cannot become true repentance.
In general, repentance is believed to be the correction of certain wrong doings, but this is not complete. The goal is to establish a full relationship with God. In other words, repentance is not about ‘what’ but about ‘who’. In Luke 15, the repentance of the prodigal son was not at the point when he realised his reckless living after taking his father’s inheritance, it was at the point he returned to his father. Repentance is not only on the degree to which I turn away from my wrong actions, but in restoring the relationship with God that has become distant from the sin.
Therefore, you still need repentance even if you have not committed worldly crimes. For instance, the first son from the parable never violated his father’s orders and lived diligently for him. However, he did not have a loving relationship which means that he also needed repentance. In conclusion, repentance is our way to God. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or even have the desire to know him more, repentance is necessary.
