How do I repent?

[Hospes]

I feel it's something I need to do.

Is that it? No thought of gaining anything? Is it really only a hankering to do something? (I hope you know my only reason for asking is that it may help me understand you better. Thanks for any insight you can provide me.)

 

[Johnnz]

Here is a quote from a very good article on repentance. If you want to read the rest of the article PM me and we can arrange to do that.

[FONT=&quot]Getting a grip on repentance[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]"A[/FONT][FONT=&quot] horrible dread." That was how the young man described his deep fear that God had rejected him because of his repeated sins.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"I thought I had repented, but I did it again," he explained. "I don’t even know if I really have faith, because I’m afraid God might not forgive me again. No matter how sincere I think my repentance is, it never seems to be enough."[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Let’s talk about what the gospel means by repentance toward God.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The first mistake in trying to understand what it means is to go to an English dictionary for a definition of the word repent. Contemporary dictionaries tell us how words have come to be understood at the time the dictionary was compiled. But a modern English dictionary does not tell us what was in the mind of a person who was writing 2,000 years ago in Greek about things that were first spoken in Aramaic, for example.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary[/FONT][FONT=&quot] says this of the word repent: 1) to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life; 2a) to feel regret or contrition; 2b) to change one’s mind.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Webster’s first definition is exactly what most religious people believe Jesus was talking about when he said, "Repent and believe." They believe that Jesus means that only people who repent, that is, stop sinning and change their ways, will be in the kingdom of God. But the fact is, that is precisely what Jesus was not saying.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Common[/FONT][FONT=&quot] mistake[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is a common mistake for Christians to think of repentance as ceasing to sin. "If you had really repented, you wouldn’t have done it again" is a refrain many tormented souls have heard from well-meaning, law-upholding spiritual counselors. We are told that repentance is to "turn around and go the other way," and it is explained in the context of turning away from sin and turning toward a life of obedience to God’s law.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]With that idea firmly in mind, Christians set out with the best of intentions to change their ways. But along the way, some ways change, and some ways seem to stick like super-glue. And even the ways that change have a nasty way of cropping up again.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Is God satisfied with such mediocrity, such hit-and-miss obedience? "No, he is not!" the preacher exhorts, and the vicious, gospel-crippling cycle of commitment, failure and despair takes another spin around the going-nowhere rat-racetrack of futility.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]And just when we are feeling frustrated and depressed about our failure to measure up to the high standards of God, we hear another sermon or read another article about "real repentance" and "deep repentance" and how such repentance results in a complete turning away from sin.So, we crank up the commitment jalopy and go at it again, with the same, miserable, predictable results. And our frustration and despair deepens, because we realize that our turning away from sin is anything but "complete."[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We can only assume we have not "really repented." Our repentance was not "deep" enough, or "heartfelt" enough or "true" enough. And if we have not really repented, then we must not really have faith. Which means we must not really have the Holy Spirit. Which means we must not really be saved.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Finally, we either get used to living like that, or, as many have done, we finally throw in the towel and walk away from the whole medicine show people call Christianity.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot]We won’t even talk about the disaster of people who actually believe they have cleaned up their lives and made themselves acceptable to God. Their state is far worse. Repentance toward God is simply not about a new and improved you.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

John
NZ