Repentance

To begin to repent, you should first understand what repentance is.

What is Repentance?

The English word “repent” is based on a Latin word which means to “change or reform one’s mind.” In Greek, the same idea is expressed by the word “metanoia.” It means that you want to, and do in fact, change. But not every change is “repentance.” The repentance we speak of in the Church has to do with our life-style and our relationship with God. God has created us to be His image and likeness. That is, for us to be the human beings God created us to be, our lives should reflect, as much as is humanly possible, God-likeness. This God-likeness requires our close communion with Him, which leads to attitudes, behavior and a life style reflecting His goodness, righteousness, love and caring.

Beginning to Repent

Beginning to repent requires that we first discern what kind of life we are now living and then make a comparison between our values, attitudes and behavior and what God expects of us. Few of us can make that comparison, and find no difference between who we are and what we do on the one side, and the God-like life, on the other. In this case, we are faced with a choice: we will either continue living as we are, or we will change. If we desire to change, we have entered into the life of repentance.

Repentance with a Big “R”

For those whose life is grossly different from what God expects of us, it means a major shift. It means a conscious effort to re-orient our lives from the practices and habits which the Bible calls “sins unto death” (1 John 5:16). Repentance then means a rejection of the old life style and a total reorientation of our life toward God. It means we are no longer serving sin through our thoughts, feelings and actions, and that we place ourselves under God to serve Him. For more about this, read Romans 6:12-23. This is Repentance with a capital “R.”

Repentance with a Little “r”

But those who have begun living the Christian life, that is, whose lives in large part reflect the way of life pleasing to God, also sin, precisely because they are in a process of growth toward a fuller, more complete expression of God-likeness. Since this process has no end in this life, it means that we are in constant need to re-orient our values, attitudes, habits and practices so that we can constantly grow in our expression of God-like humanity. As a result, for good Christians, repentance is a continuous requirement. So the Church’s most common prayer is “Lord have mercy,” a prayer of repentance. For more about “continuous repentance,” see the book by Christophoros Stavropoulos, Partakers of Divine Nature.

Beginning to Repent

You cannot begin to repent, whether it be the big “Repentance,” of a total change of life style, or the continuous repentance of committed believers, unless you begin by comparing who you are and what you are doing, with what God expects of you as a true human being in communion with Him. When you do that, in any case, you will find a disparity. Your desire to change your life to be more in harmony with God’s will for you is the beginning of repentance. Fortunately, God helps us in both cases with his grace. Ask for His help to guide you toward repentance. He always answers that prayer when it is genuinely and sincerely offered.