How Do I Respond to God?
Respond by Repenting and Changing Your Ways
By Larry Fayer
We have talked about the importance of developing faith through hearing the word of God preached. Faith and knowing what God has done for you should lead you to a conviction that things in your life must change. The Bible calls this change of attitude, repentance.
When you believe in Jesus, you recognize that he has paid the price for redemption and that, instead of living life to please yourself, you need to live life to please Christ. Repentance is that change of mind that says, “I’m going to change my life to match what Jesus wants.”
Jesus spoke about repentance. It was an emphasis during his ministry. He said, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). After his death, burial and resurrection, he made repentance one of the centerpieces of his disciples’ preaching: “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:45-47 RSV).
Peter told his listeners, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
Paul implored those in Athens, Greece, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30-31).
Repentance is that change of mind to a commitment to live for God and follow his ways. What you do afterwards, your behavior, is a product of that decision. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). This is the reason the Scriptures say, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). A part of our response to God is a change of attitude that changes the way we behave.