Many good and sincere people want to return to the First Love but have not been able to because of the barrier of repentance, which demands sacrifice. They are often deceived by feelings of remorse. Repentance involves faith-filled actions that have nothing to do with feelings of remorse. Remorse howls with pain, but does nothing to stop a person from committing sin.

Sometimes the heart fakes it. It makes its victim think that he has repented by making him sad about his sins. At that moment he cries, promises and vows never to do it again. Pure deception. The next day, there he is relishing the taste of sin again.

The fact is, if we base our repentance on feelings, there will be no repentance, no forgiveness and no Salvation.

When the LORD says…

Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your candlestick from its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:5

This reveals that repentance has to be followed by the works we did at first. This demands sacrifice and turning our backs on sin.