Article July 16, 1990 Issue

Repentance—why we never outgrow it

It might be tempting to dismiss repentance as an old and outgrown religious concept. But when we see what repentance is really all about, we recognize it's needed and vital.

Marcia Dunscombe

Repent . Repentance. All of us have probably heard these words in our own Bible study or in a religious talk or discussion. And we may have glossed over the demands of repentance because we felt it only applied to those who are blatant sinners and who need to feel sorrowful so the sinful activity can cease.

But do we ever get to a point in our human experience where we no longer need to be concerned with repenting? As we think about this question, let's recall that repentance expresses a reconsideration, a change of mind, a feeling of regret or remorse—a turning away from sin and a turning to God.

So repentance is more than outworn theological rhetoric, doctrine, or dogma. Repentance opens up our ability to understand God and man as God's spiritual image and likeness. Repentance is yielding up of human will in any form and seeing that God's man is always governed by divine will.

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