Well for me a true repentance is realize what you did is actually a sin, then you need to pray to God to forgive you that sin (and truly feel sorry when you are praying), then you need to go to abouna and tell him the sin (confess), and then try to keep away from that sin.
maybe try to realize how much it hurts God, how much it's farthering you away from him, that every sin you do, it cause God more and more pain. I think all of that doesn't just come naturally, you have to really love God from all your heart to feel that pain... that's just a gues...sorry i am no help :-[
how do you feel truly repentant? I honestly don't know if there is a perfect answer for that...but doesn't they say that if you are truly sorry, you will cry over your sins...but anyone can fake crying and feel like they repented that way. So I don't really know...maybe when you repent...you really feel it in your heart.. By the way that's a great question...so anyone who has the answer for that let us know.
guilt + regret + sorry + God + confession + making changes= Repentance
Wrong formula... lol...
(Love + God + knowledge of good and bad + guilt + regret + the need of pleasing God + confession * God's love= repentance = love to God... thus changing your actions, so you wouldn’t go through the confusing formula again... lol
A very unOrthodox emphasis has been placed on the emotional aspect of repentence. In fact, repentance has nothing to do with emotions. Guilt, sorrow etc. do not define repentence; they are neither the esential qualities of repentance nor are they the necessary pre-requisites for repentance.
Sure, I can. However, instead of just posting a very long monologue on the Orthodox conception of repentance, i'd rather we come to the conclusion together through constructive dialogue. So how about I give you a head start: the Greek word for repentence is metanoia. How about you tell us what you can find out about this Greek word, and we'll progress from there?
[quote author=Iqbal link=topic=3474.msg50879#msg50879 date=1143163822] A very unOrthodox emphasis has been placed on the emotional aspect of repentence. In fact, repentance has nothing to do with emotions. Guilt, sorrow etc. do not define repentence; they are neither the esential qualities of repentance nor are they the necessary pre-requisites for repentance.
That's exactly what I was thinking... but perhaps a little expanding on this would be beneficial.
Comments
Again...feel free to correct.
that's just a gues...sorry i am no help :-[
By the way that's a great question...so anyone who has the answer for that let us know.
(Love + God + knowledge of good and bad + guilt + regret + the need of pleasing God + confession * God's love= repentance = love to God... thus changing your actions, so you wouldn’t go through the confusing formula again... lol
I think that you need to repent right after you do that sin. Have you ever felt guilty right after you've done the sin? That helps when repenting.
GB.
A very unOrthodox emphasis has been placed on the emotional aspect of repentence. In fact, repentance has nothing to do with emotions. Guilt, sorrow etc. do not define repentence; they are neither the esential qualities of repentance nor are they the necessary pre-requisites for repentance.
That's exactly what I was thinking... but perhaps a little expanding on this would be beneficial.