Repentance
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Luke 3:3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.
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The word repentance in the Bible literally means “the act of changing one’s mind.” True biblical repentance goes beyond remorse, regret, or feeling bad about one’s sin. It involves more than merely turning away from sin. It requires a deliberate redirection for the future.

The focus of Jesus Christ’s mission was to call sinners to repentance:

‍“I have come not to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent” (Luke 5:32).

His call of absolute surrender goes out to all people:

‍“But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5 NIV)

In His farewell to the disciples, Jesus commanded that they take His message of repentance and faith to all the nations when He said

‍"and repentance for the forgiveness of sin will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:47 NIV)

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Like faith, repentance is a response to the work of God, who convicts and convinces a person that he is in error. We gently instruct sinners in the hope that this intervention will be the means that God uses to bring them to repentance. It is the truth of God’s Word lovingly and accurately presented that God uses to bring about repentance. An unbeliever’s desire to know how to repent and trust in Christ is evidence that God is working. If a believer wants to repent of sin that has crept into her life, it is because the Holy Spirit is working in the life of that believer.

A person will be in a better position to repent if he is continually feeding on God’s truth through reading the Bible,listening to biblical preaching and teaching, filling the mind with truth so that the mind begins to think the thoughts of God, and associating with like-minded Christians who will foster accountability.