Renounce Your Sin

First we need to renounce sin – hate our disobedience and accept that God knows best
The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God draws near. Repent, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15)

You Need Drive

Life changes of any kind only come about if we have sufficient motivation. If you don't feel sorry for what you have said and done in the past, you won't have much incentive to change.

In fact, it's rather more than feeling sorry. Many people feel sorry for something wrong they have done when they are caught and have to face the consequences. They are sorry because they were caught rather than because they know that what they did was wrong. People who feel sorry in that sense are just as likely to repeat their actions if they think they can get away with it.

It's About More than Saying Sorry

The bible uses the term "repent". That means you really regret what you have done for no other reason than you have come to see it as wrong.

In fact, it is even more than "regret". If you have ever heard someone say with feeling that they hate themselves for what they have done, you are beginning to see what repentance is all about.

Have you ever felt so strongly about your actions that you would do anything to turn the clock back and undo the harm. You can never literally turn the clock back, but there are often things you can do to try and reverse your earlier action, for example:

• Offering to return something you shouldn't have taken or shouldn't have kept.
• Going to see someone you have offended, telling them you are sorry and asking them to forgive you.

Easier Said than Done

These things are easy enough to say but are usually much tougher to carry out.

If you have been living an ungodly and unrighteous life, you can't recompense God, but suppose God offered to eliminate, erase, rub out all the wrong things and to become your mentor in living a godly righteous life, would that strike you as something of a bargain?

That is effectively God's offer to you.