Repentance
What exactly is "repentance"? And why is it so important to God? First of all, we should realize that repentance is not just saying "I'm sorry" to God. Repentance is more than that. Have you ever had to say "I'm sorry" because you had to, but you didn't really mean it?
Repentance is an about face FROM sin and the love of yourself and what you want TO loving God and seeking to please Him. You were walking one way, and you made a U-Turn to completely turn around. Repentance is NOT optional….. it is the first reponse we make to Jesus and His love for us. Repentance is a gift from God; He enables us to repent. (Acts 11:18, 11 Tim. 2:25) When God gives us repentance, we realize that our actions and attitudes are offensive to God. We begin to see sin as He sees it - a direct personal insult to His holiness and love for us.
There are two Hebrew words that describe repentance; the first one, Naham emphasizes your emotions as you begin to realize your sinful nature, and the second, Shubh emphasizes the moral decision you make to forsake that sin and return to God:
Naham means "to feel sorry, to lament, to grieve, to sigh, or to groan."
The word literally refers to difficulty in breathing while you are
experiencing intense emotion. (Point the kids to when a person is VERY
afraid, and can hardly breathe) It includes, though, the results of emotion
in urging a change of behavior and character. David did not stop with
feeling bad - he turned around.
Shubh means "to turn back, to make a radical change in attitude toward sin
and God." It includes both the conscious moral separation, and a personal
decision to come back to God. This word was the one most often used by
the Old Testament prophets when they called God's people to turn to God
once more, or return.
So, you're asking, what's that got to do with me? Can you put that into normal language?
OKAY!!
As the Holy Spirit begins to work on your heart, giving you God's gift of repentance, you begin to see yourself as you really are: a flat-out sinner. You start to see how FAR AWAY you are from God. As you start to see this, and the fact that you just can't quite reach Him, your heart cries out as you start to see that there is NO WAY you are going to be able to be with Him. You see how piled high you are with sin, and as you start to sink under the weight of your sin, you realize that you need help. This is the beginning of repentance in you.
The Holy Spirit continues to show you how much God loves you, and how FAR AWAY from Him you are, and one day, you make a decision to turn around from where you are going, and start walking toward Him. You tell Him that you believe what Jesus did for you, that you accept His love and forgiveness, and you choose to follow him. After you come to Him, after you are "saved", you will see that repentance is a continual process as He continues to show you areas in your life that are not pleasing to Him and you turn from those things.