Repentance: What It Is, What It Isn't, and How To Do It

Most people associate repentance with displays of emotion that signal regret. But the emotional responses of remorse, guilt, or regret are insufficient to produce behavioral change. In fact, those toxic emotions may lead to an even deeper sense of hopelessness, defeat, and despair—without the restorative power of true repentance.

Genuine repentance dispenses with any attempt to remove guilt through a show of emotion. When activated, it leaves in its powerful wake the fruit of a changed life—blazing a trail toward true deliverance, freedom, and salvation. This is the life God desires for us—a life waiting on the other side of a door called repentance.