The Price of Repenting...

Repentance doesn’t appear to be very popular. Prophets have been made martyrs for proclaiming it; nations and peoples have died rather than do anything about it. But however unpopular or unpalatable, repentance is one of the greatest, most satisfying principles that God has given⎯for we are none of us perfect; we, none of us, turn in a perfect performance; we are, none of us, without earnest urgent need of the principle of repentance, and without it our lives would be futile and frustrated.

In a sense, any improvement is repentance⎯any straightening of a road, any saving of danger or distance; any improving of a process, any abandoning of old errors or of inefficient ways is repentance. Repentance is a basic principle of progress.

Now as to some, among many things to repent of: We could well consider repentance from procrastination, from wasting time, form withholding willing work; repentance for incurring debts too willingly that we have little prospect of repaying; repentance for too little appreciation of our loved ones, or for what is done for us by others; repentance form letting life slip by without giving our attention to things that matter most, or from not keeping closer in counsel and companionship to those who mean the most; repentance from indifference to what we ought to be doing; repentance from brooding too much upon the past; and for too little faith in the future.

Now as to the nature of repentance: It is more than saying we’re sorry, more than embarrassment, more than the discomfort of being caught, more than fear, more than an effort to avoid punishment or penalties. It is a sincere change within, a sincere turning away, as suggested by the Saviour when he said: “go, and sin no more.” Such repentance lets us live with ourselves with quiet conscience and leads to peace and progress. People have sometimes supposed that repentance was too high priced. They have looked at what they would have to give up, at appetites they would have to curb, at habits they would have to break or abandon, at things they would have to set aside, and have forgotten the fact that no matter what the price of repenting, it is never so high as the price of not repenting⎯and no later hour is ever better for the purpose of repenting then this very hour is.