What’s it Like to Repent?

Gaby Says:

Believe it or not, repentance is one of the most important things you can do. This isn’t just because you are apologizing to God, but also because it takes a load off of your shoulders. According to a 2021 study, people with higher feelings of guilt are more likely to get sick. Repentance removes the guilt. Even if it is a little thing, like making a mistake, a not very nice or negative thought pops into your head, or saying something not very nice about someone. Even if that person is being mean. It will make you feel better to repent and talk to God about it directly.

Guilt, (just like hatred) is like a bag of potatoes you carry around all the time, everywhere you go – each potato is a mistake. After a while, the bag gets heavier and heavier, with more and more potatoes and they start to stink. When you repent, you empty that bag of potatoes. Your load is lighter and the smell is gone. And if you continuously repent, you never have to feel the weight of multiple potatoes in your bag or the stench of rotting potatoes. The faster you repent the better.

When you repent you don’t always have to fold your arms, close your eyes and say a full prayer. You just need to say you are sorry, right then and there, in the moment, and ask God for forgiveness. He will give you the words to say, things to do, an exit or help you back on the right track.

Hugs,
Gaby

Jericho Says:

Everybody repents differently. I’m going to tell you how I personally like to repent. I like to actually think about what I did wrong for minute to actually feel it. This gives me the ability to truthfully, and honestly repent and ask for forgiveness. Then, I release it for good.

Essentially, you always feel what you do wrong. It eats at you everyday. You can feel depressed and unworthy. But what I want to feel is sorry, regretful and compassionate for the person I have hurt. It makes the apology feel authentic and motivates us to make amends.

You don’t have to kneel down or lock yourself away in your bedroom, to repent. You just have to take a moment, stop what you are doing, and ask God to forgive you and show you how to make amends or what to say that will help make things better.

Once I’ve repented, I try and figure out how to resolve the cycle of sin, repent, repeat. I work on avoiding the same trouble, because am usually tempted again within a few days. Here are some things I can do to help release the sin for good.

1. Ask Heavenly Father for help.
2. Stay out compromising situations. Instead, stand in holy places with holy people. This will keep me strong.
3. Make the sin more difficult and challenging by creating road blocks for myself. If I am tempted by ice cream (random example), I could turn up the air conditioner, hide the spoons, put a lock on the freezer. You get the idea.
4. Clear a path for choices that will lead to a happier life. For example if the sin is yelling at my little brother, (I don’t have a little brother but if I did) I could do relaxation techniques so I could be more relaxed next time I see him or prepare to do something we both enjoyed together.
5. Become more self reliant. Better to take the bus or walk then to be dependent on someone else for a ride to school. The more hard things I learn to do on my own, the easier it is to do things without concern for what other’s think, or say about me – making me less susceptible to peer pressure.

So there you go. I repent by feeling the regret, repenting, apologizing and making amends and then releasing the sin for good. Repenting makes you happy, like a weight has been lifted. It’s a good thing to do.

-Jericho