by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Repentance isn’t easy.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Sin is pleasurable. Change is challenging. Confession is humbling.<\/p>\n
What can prompt a 180\u00b0?<\/p>\n
Knowing God was about to punish, the Ninevites repented (Jonah 3:4-10). Seeing their penitence, God relented (Jeremiah 18:7-8).<\/p>\n
Shouldn’t Judgment Day motivate us? “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead<\/em>” (Acts 17:30-31).<\/p>\n “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?<\/em>” (Romans 2:4).<\/p>\n When the Prodigal understood what his sin had cost him, he was ready to return (Luke 15:11-19).<\/p>\n When Peter realized he had denied knowing Jesus, “he went out and wept bitterly<\/em>” (Matthew 26:75).<\/p>\n “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death<\/em>” (II Corinthians 7:10 NASB).<\/p>\n “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus<\/em>” (Acts 3:19).<\/p>\n Strong incentives!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Repentance isn’t easy. Why? Sin is pleasurable. Change is challenging. Confession is humbling. What can prompt a 180\u00b0? Fear of punishment Knowing God was about to punish, the Ninevites repented (Jonah 3:4-10). Seeing their penitence, God relented (Jeremiah 18:7-8). Shouldn’t Judgment Day motivate us? “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-93292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sin-repentance-and-judging-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":0},"title":"Sin, Repentance, and Judging Others","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Some discussions just seem odd to me. One such oddity goes along these lines (and it seems to happen over and over, especially on social media, so this is not a reference to one particular discussion): Person A: \"People who engage in this activity are in sin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doing-the-same\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":1},"title":"Doing the Same","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Paul had pointed out the wickedness of the Gentiles, and his Jewish readers must have loved it. \"Yeah! Let 'em have it, Paul!\" they must have thought. Their glee will be short-lived because Paul will quickly lower the boom on them, too. But Paul wasn't merely trying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51926,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-romans-24-and-titus-211-talking-about-two-different-types-of-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":2},"title":"Are Romans 2:4 and Titus 2:11 talking about two different types of grace?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, Titus 2:11 speaks about the grace that brings salvation, meaning unmerited favor. Does Romans 2:4 talk about a different grace, where God cares and supplies to all human beings so that they would want the grace mentioned in Titus 2:11? Thanks. Answer: \"For the grace of God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-compassion\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":3},"title":"God’s Compassion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 58 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God has the absolute right to judge \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some get angry that He would dare to judge \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But it is the righteous God who gets angry - Psalms 7:10-11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How can mankind who have shown repeated incidences of injustice sit in judgment on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4897,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-security-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":4},"title":"Our Security in Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell In our Grace \u2013 Obedience \u2013 Fellowship discussions, we are often told that without those in Christ being continuously cleansed of sin (even as they sin) we can have no real sense of security in Him. It goes something like this: It must be that God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27136,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-die-to-sin-at-the-point-of-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":93292,"position":5},"title":"Do we die to sin at the point of repentance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: After viewing your web site, my brother and I saw the graphic on\u00a0the gospel re-enacted.\u00a0 I appreciate the way it is laid out.\u00a0 I am attaching a similar graphic that is being taught in this area and in many other areas also. In this graphic, it is taught that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}God’s goodness<\/h2>\n
Taking inventory<\/h2>\n
Godly sorrow<\/h2>\n
God’s blessing<\/h2>\n