Man usually repents because of a big sorrow, or under extreme pressure. But such repentance isn’t pleasing to God. It’s not the kind of repentance which will cost your ego anything. It is not repen- tance which equals to the death of the old man. True repentance results to the death of the old man, the death of the good impression we have of ourselves.
Man has suffered great damage because of sin, and acts as if he deserves to be given credit for his good- ness. Things are simple, though. You should admit your sinfulness before God and the Lord will com- fort you, will forgive you, will cleanse you and will sanctify you. Otherwise, you try to salvage yourself. You avoid exposing yourself totally. That’s why you confess something, but some aspects of it you leave unsaid. You somehow cover up your mistake, hide it a little and whitewash it. And you present it in a way that doesn’t cost you anything and doesn’t spoil the good impression other people have of you.
Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos (†)
From the book: Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos, “SPIRITUAL MESSAGES” Panorama Thessaloniki, 2017
What is the truth repentance
