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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________ t  Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post on podcast. https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_05_24_2021_Why_Do_I_Need_to_Repent_1.mp3 ______________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, May 24, 2021, and this is Episode #16 of Series 2021. This episode is titled “Why Do I Need to Repent?" _______________________________ According to the Blue Letter Bible (blueletterbible.org), the word "repent" appears 46 times in 43 verses in the King James version of the Bible.  What does it mean to repent, and why does the Bible command us to do so? First, let's take a look at the meaning of the word repent. In common parlance, to repent means to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin; to view or think of (an action or omission) with deep regret or remorse." While these are good definitions for the word repent, the Biblical concept of the word repent goes even deeper. According to the Bible, to repent means to change one's mind. To do a 180-degree turn in the opposite direction. We find this meaning of the word repent in Acts 3: 19 where the Greek word metanoeō (met-an-o-eh'-o) is used for the word repent. Metanoeō is defined in Strong's Concordance as "to change one's mind; to change one's mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins." In his commentary on the verse, theologian F. F. Bruce writes: "Repentance (metanoia, 'change of mind') involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness."  So, now that we've explored the definition of the word repent, why do we need to repent? Indeed, why does the Bible command us to repent? Here are three basic reasons we all need to repent: 1. We are all sinners, and sin is an affront to God Who is perfectly holy. The Bible tells us in Romans 3: 23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin cannot stand in the Presence of a Holy God. When man fell in the Garden of Eden, his sin separated him from God. There was no way that man could atone for sin to a perfectly holy God because man was now hopelessly sinful and imperfect. Were it not for the mercy of God in sending Jesus to atone for our sin, mankind would have been doomed to spend eternity separated from God and in unspeakable torment.  2. If we don't repent of our sin, we will spend eternity separated from God in an indescribably horrific place called Hell. While Jesus paid the price for our sin by His death and resurrection, we must individually receive His gift of eternal life in order to go to Heaven. In John 3: 3, Jesus says, "Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." A gift is not a gift until one receives it. So, it is critically important that if a person wants to be saved, he accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. 3. Repentance reconnects us with God through Jesus Christ and allows us to go to Heaven when we die. Whereas sin separates us from God, repentance reconnects us with Him. When we repent, we are saying, in essence, that we choose God over sin and that we desire a relationship with Him above a relationship with sin.