Jehovah Wants All to Repent

 "Jehovah . . . does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." - 2 PETER 3:9.

When we do something wrong, it is vital that we repent. In the Bible, a person who repents changes his mind about a certain kind of behavior, stops behaving that way, and is determined not to repeat it. - See Glossary, "Repentance." 

Every human alive needs to learn about repentance. Why? Because we all sin daily. As descendants of Adam and Eve, each of us has inherited sin and death. (Romans 3:23; 5:12) Not one of you is exempt. Even outstanding men of faith, such as the apostle Paul, struggled against sin. (Romans 7:21-24) Does this mean that we should be miserable all the time because of our sins? No, Jehovah is merciful and he wants us to be happy. Consider the experience of the Jews in Nehemiah's day.  (Read Nehemiah 8:9-11.) Jehovah did not want them to be grief-stricken over past sins but wanted them to be joyful in their worship of him. Jehovah knows that repentance leads to happiness. So he teaches us about it. If we repent of our sins, we can be confident that our merciful Father will forgive us. 

Let us learn more about repentance. In this article, we will consider three aspects. First, we will learn how Jehovah reached out to sinners in order to lead them to repentance. Finally, we will discuss what Jesus' followers learned about repentance. 

Next time: WHAT JEHOVAH TAUGHT ISRAEL ABOUT REPENTANCE

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