There is difference between being sorry or remorseful for things that we have done wrong and being repentant – which is not the same thing. When my children were growing up and they committed some minor misdemeanour and were sorry for what they had done, I would often say to them: ‘It’s good that you are sorry but I don’t want so much to hear sorry as to see sorry.’ In other words, its right to be remorseful and apologise but to change your wrong behaviour, that’s what really matters! To be remorseful is to be sorry. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, was full of remorse. In fact, he felt so sorry for himself, and was so full of guilt for what he’d done, that he went out and hanged himself. But as far as we know Judas didn’t repent; he didn’t seek forgiveness and restoration; he didn’t seek to live a changed life that honours Christ. He was remorseful, yes, but not repentant (cf. Matthew 26:24–25, 27:3–5 and John 17:12). To be remorseful is to be sorry but to repent is far more than just being sorry: to repent is to confess your sins, your wrongdoing, and to seek God’s forgiveness; to repent is to want to turn your life around; to turn away from your old way of life and to seek to live a new life through the Lord Jesus. – Jesus calls us all repent… and then to keep on repenting when we know we have sinned.

R. Ian Seymour

There is difference between being sorry or remorseful for things that we have done wrong and being repentant – which is not the same thing. When my children were growing up and they committed some minor misdemeanour and were sorry for what they had done, I would often say to them: ‘It’s good that you are sorry but I don’t want so much to hear sorry as to see sorry.’ In other words, its right to be remorseful and apologise but to change your wrong behaviour, that’s what really matters! To be remorseful is to be sorry. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, was full of remorse. In fact, he felt so sorry for himself, and was so full of guilt for what he’d done, that he went out and hanged himself. But as far as we know Judas didn’t repent; he didn’t seek forgiveness and restoration; he didn’t seek to live a changed life that honours Christ. He was remorseful, yes, but not repentant (cf. Matthew 26:24–25, 27:3–5 and John 17:12). To be remorseful is to be sorry but to repent is far more than just being sorry: to repent is to confess your sins, your wrongdoing, and to seek God’s forgiveness; to repent is to want to turn your life around; to turn away from your old way of life and to seek to live a new life through the Lord Jesus. – Jesus calls us all repent… and then to keep on repenting when we know we have sinned.

R. Ian Seymour