What is repentance, and how do you show it?
Read Dave’s answer
Answer 1
It is a lifelong process that in modern terminology might be called “self-improvement.”
Some highlights of the repentance process in my religion (“Mormonism”):
The ultimate goal of all repentance is to overcome sin and, through the grace and atonement of Jesus Christ, be cleansed from sin and to be perfected in Christ.
Baptism is the formal ordinance whereby we show our love for God and our earnest desire to obey all of His commandments, in faith that each commandment is given for our good. In return, Jesus forgives us for our sins and takes upon himself their consequences.
The weekly Sacrament reminds us of our covenants and the love and grace of our Savior and allows us to examine our lives and repent anew and renew our covenant of baptism and its cleansing effect in our lives.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, and focus on doing better and being a better person, by the grace of our Savior, we can gradually and steadily improve ourselves. This is the essence of repentance - without the atonement of Jesus Christ true repentance would be impossible.
Repentance can involve, at various times and in various ways, according to the circumstances and consequences of our sin(s):
Recognition
Regret
Confession - to God in prayer, to the party we have wronged, or to our Bishop, who holds the keys of repentance and forgiveness in the eyes of the Church. Serious sins (felonies or serious misdemeanors, apostasy and willful disobedience causing harm to the body of the Church, and most sexual sins) should be confessed to the Bishop, but most sins are confessed to God or to the person we’ve hurt.
Restitution, recompense or reconciliation
Resolve to never commit that sin again.
Overcoming alcoholism or any form of addiction is one example of repentance, but any time we change for the better (and forever) our heart, our thoughts, the words we use, or our behavior, we have repented.
Answer 2
You show repentance by forsaking your sins and becoming a new creature through the grace of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Depending on the severity of the sins, you can do this by some combination of the following, to various degrees:
- Recognition of the sin and why it is grievous to God
- Feeling remorse and regret sufficient to motivate one to forsake the sin
- Confession to the person or parties who were wronged
- Restitution to whatever degree possible - making things right
- Meditation, prayer, and contemplation as necessary to root out the desire to sin from our hearts and minds
- Resolve to never commit the sin again
- Acceptance of the grace of Jesus Christ
- Rejoicing in the answer to prayer that Jesus has forgiven us of our sin, after paying its eternal price on our behalf in the Garden of Gethsamane and on the cruel cross