#repent

In religion our only hope is to live a life good enough to require God to bless us, so every instance of sin and repentance is therefore traumatic, unnatural and threatening. Only under great duress do religious people admit they have sinned, because their only hope is their moral goodness. In the gospel the knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes it easier to admit that we are flawed, because we know we won't be cast off if we confess the true depths of our sinfulness. Our hope is in Christ's righteousness, not our own, so it is not as traumatic to admit our weaknesses and lapses. ↗

— Timothy Keller

#god #gospel #religion #repentance #change

Those who believe they have pleased God by the quality of their devotion and moral goodness naturally feel that they and their group deserve deference and power over others. The God of Jesus and the prophets, however, saves completely by grace. He cannot be manipulated by religious and moral performance--he can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power. If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, willing servants of God and of everyone around us. ↗

— Timothy Keller

#faith #grace #religion #repentance #timothy-keller

I decided that my means were sufficient to enable me to devote myself to botany, a determination which I never, during the long period of my subsequent career, had on any occasion any reason to repent of. ↗

— George Bentham

#botany #career #decided #determination #devote

There is no original sin. You don't have to pay repentance to anything or anybody. ↗

— Desmond Harrington

#anything #original #original sin #pay #repentance

To sigh, yet not recede; to grieve, yet not repent. ↗

— George Crabbe

#recede #repent #sigh #yet

How can I forgive if you are not ready to give up that which caused you to stumble? ↗

— Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

#repentance #forgiveness

John the Baptist, who we are told was related by blood to Jesus, was preaching the impending judgement of God, urging repentance and moral reform, and baptizing in the Jordan River those who responded. ↗

— Kenneth Scott Latourette

#blood #god #impending #jesus #john

Anger begins with folly, and ends with repentance. ↗

— Beverly Sills

#begins #ends #folly #repentance

Low self-esteem causes me to believe that I have so little worth that my response does not matter. With repentance, however, I understand that being worth so much to God is why my response is so important. Repentance is remedial work to mend our minds and hearts, which get bent by sin. ↗

— John Ortberg Jr.

#god #repentance #self-esteem #self-worth #sin

...I committed a sin the day I refused you - I discovered metal inside me where my heart should be - forgive me, Love, for acting on principles... ↗

— John Geddes

#love #refusal #repentance #selfishness #sin