When we find ourselves on the wrong road, repentance allows us to make a U-turn and head back in the right direction. Isn’t that an amazing blessing! But to be clear, repenting doesn’t increase God’s desire to be with us; it just increases our capacity to be with Him. Sometimes we think we need to repent because God’s angry with us and wants to see us grovel, or we think of repenting as a way of punishing ourselves so that God will be less severe with us. But that’s not repentance, it’s low self-esteem! Low self-esteem causes us to believe we have so little worth that our response doesn’t matter. But with repentance, we understand that because we’re worth so much to God, our response is important.

Paul said, ‘The kindness of God leads you to repentance.’ When we love God, our greatest concern isn’t that God will hurt us, but that our actions will hurt Him. When David murdered Uriah after sleeping with his wife, he went a year without repenting. He had to force his mind not to think about it. It was a miserable way to live. In his remorseful prayer, he said, ‘My sin is always before me’ (Psalm 51:3 NIV). Then he cried, ‘Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a pure heart, O God…Restore to me the joy of your salvation’ (v.7, 10, 12 NIV). So God forgave him and wiped his slate clean, and David went on to become Israel’s greatest king. Repentance isn’t for God’s benefit – it’s for ours!

What Now?

Is there anything that you need to repent for? No matter how long you’ve held on to it, God wants you to tell Him about it and stop carrying it any further.