50 Repentance Quotes for Internal Cleansing

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published January 10, 2023

Repentance quotes are hard to find, especially those that include an element of motivation.

To help you, we have gathered the top inspirational quotes about repentance.

Reading through these quotes will let you understand what repentance is and why it is so important.

Besides, we have also defined repentance and discussed other related aspects.

So, let’s start without any further delay!

What is repentance?

Most of us have heard the word “repent,” which is a term commonly used in Christianity.

However, chances are there that we don’t exactly understand what repentance means.

According to the Bible definition, “repentance” is the “change of mind or attitude,” as well as the behavior of a person.

The only author of repentance is God, who holds the authority to forgive the sins of a person repenting.

Repentance is an integral part of Confession and Baptism.

Repentance isn’t only the sorrow for sins but also the determination to leave the path that leads to the sins.

In addition, repentance is an act where a person identifies the wrongs in him/her.

People should be aware of sins, immorality, and other destructive behaviors.

We should stop doing all those acts, which offend God and keep us away from his love and affection.

How to repent?

Repentance always includes the admission of sin or guilt.

Repentance is a way to distinguish between right and wrong.

It allows you to gain forgiveness from a person with whom you have done something wrong.

Here is how to perform repentance:

When repenting, make a solemn promise that you won’t repeat that offense or sin.
You are also ready to compensate for the wrong done to a person.
You are willing to reverse the harmful effects of your wrong deeds on your family or those affected.

Take a moment and read through our repentance quotes and sayings.

Top 10 repentance quotes

Now, let’s check out some of the best repentance quotes.

1. “Bad men are full of repentance.” — Aristotle

2. “True repentance is to cease from sin.” — Ambrose

3. “Repentance comes from the heart.” — Sonny Perdue

4. “Repentance is but want of power to sin.” — John Dryden

5. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” — John the Baptist

6. “True repentance does not permit repetition.” — Spencer W. Kimball

7. “True repentance never leads to despair. It leads home. It leads to grace.” — John Ortberg

8. “True repentance involves a change of heart and not just a change of behavior.” — Ezra Taft Benson

9. “Though true repentance is never too late, yet late repentance is seldom true.” — Thomas Brooks

10. “True repentance means making amends with the person when at all possible.” — Lawana Blackwell

Heartfelt repentance quotes for everyone

These repentance quotes have a strong message, giving you a reason to seek motivation.

11. “True repentance always involves reform.” — Hosea Ballou

12. “True belief and true repentance are twins: it would be idle to attempt to say which is born first.” — Charles Spurgeon

13. “Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.” — Thomas Carlyle

14. “Every year during their High Holy Days, the Jewish community reminds us all of our need for repentance and forgiveness.” — Billy Graham

15. “True repentance hates the sin, and not merely the penalty, and it hates the sin most of all because it has discovered and felt God’s love.” — William Taylor

16. “Four marks of true repentance are: acknowledgment of wrong, willingness to confess it, willingness to abandon it, and willingness to make restitution.” — Corrie Ten Boom

17. “The proud do not change to improve, but defend their position by rationalizing. Repentance means change, and it takes a humble person to change.” — Ezra Taft Benson

18. “The Church is holy, although there are sinners within her. Those who sin, but who cleanse themselves with true repentance, do not keep the Church from being holy.” — Patriarch Philaret of Moscow

19. “Obviously the gospel was offensive to a lot of people and it was offensive to me at one point but that caused me to have a change of heart, to come to repentance, and realize I was a sinner and needed a savior.” — Israel Folau

20. “True repentance is no light matter. It is a thorough change of heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and humiliation – in heartfelt confession before the throne of grace – in a complete breaking off from sinful habits, and an abiding hatred of all sin.” — J. C. Ryle

Engaging repentance quotes

These repentance quotes are engaging enough, giving you an opportunity to think about admitting the wrongs.

21. “I thank the Lord for the great principle of repentance and forgiveness.” — Gordon B. Hinckley

22. “For the most part fraud, in the end, secures for its companion’s repentance and shame.” — Charles Simmons

23. “Each life is unique. But for all, repentance will surely include passing through the portal of humble prayer.” — Henry B. Eyring

24. “True repentance includes sorrow for sin and contrition of heart. It breaks the heart with sighs and sobs and groans.” — Thomas Brooks

25. “Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done as the fear of the consequences.” — Francois de La Rochefoucauld

26. “Yes, one can repent of moral transgression. The miracle of forgiveness is real, and true repentance is accepted of the Lord.” — Ezra Taft Benson

27. “Rather than forgive, we can wish ill; rather than hope for repentance, we can instead hope that our enemies experience the wrath of God.” — Meir Soloveichik

28. “Yet only when we come to understand, in the light of the Cross, the evil we are capable of, and have even been a part of, can we experience true remorse and true repentance.” — Pope Francis

29. “Conversion is an enlarging, a deepening, and a broadening of the undergirding base of testimony. It is the result of revelation from God, accompanied by individual repentance, obedience, and diligence.” — David A. Bednar

30. “True repentance begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before god. It shows itself before a person by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a deep hatred for all sin.” — J. C. Ryle

Repentance quotes with a strong message

Reading these repentance quotes can help you understand repentance and why you should repent before it’s too late.

31. “Anger begins with folly, and ends with repentance.” — Pythagoras

32. “The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance.” — Billy Graham

33. “It is not repentance per se that saves man. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves us.” — Dieter F. Uchtdorf

34. “The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.” — William Hazlitt

35. “It is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” — Jesus Christ

36. “True repentance has a double aspect. It looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.” — Robert Smith

37. “There is no refuge from memory and remorse in this world. The spirits of our foolish deeds haunt us, with or without repentance.” — Gilbert Parker

38. “God is not looking for repayment, but repentance. What heals a broken relationship is sincere love and contrition.” — Frederica Mathewes-Green

39. “Enthusiasm – a distemper of youth, curable by small doses of repentance in connection with outward applications of experience.” — Ambrose Bierce

40. “Repentance allows God’s mercy to come forth because it recognizes that the sin committed was against God. It also bares contriteness of the heart and the desire to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh so that particular sin will never be repeated.” — Monica Johnson

Other relevant repentance quotes

Here are a few other repentance quotes that you might find interesting and relevant to you.

41. “Repentance means you change your mind so deeply that it changes you.” — Bruce Wilkinson

42. “True faith begins with true repentance for whatever we have been doing that is wrong.” — Rick Joyner

43. “A true repentance shuns the evil itself, more than the external suffering or the shame.” — William Shakespeare

44. “Can true repentance exist without faith? By no means. But although they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished.” — John Calvin

45. “True repentance will entirely change you; the bias of your souls will be changed, then you will delight in God, in Christ, in His Law, and in His people.” — George Whitefield

46. “Repentance and faith are distasteful to the unregenerate; they would sooner repeat a thousand formal prayers than shed a solitary tear of true repentance.” — Charles Spurgeon

47. “Put a bridle on thy tongue; set a guard before thy lips, lest the words of thine own mouth destroy thy peace… on much speaking cometh repentance, but in silence is safety.” — William Drummond

48. “There are still people who insist that we have to preach on repentance. Well, I disagree! I think we should do it God’s way – preach the goodness of God and allow the goodness of God to lead people to repentance.” — Joseph Prince

49. “Remorse is as the heart in which it grows; If that be gentle, it drops balmy dews Of true repentance; but if proud and gloomy, It is the poison tree, that pierced to the inmost, Weeps only tears of poison.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

50. “Don’t punish people who repent; heal them. I don’t believe that private sin requires public rebuke or removal from office if repentance is taking place. However, when no evidence of true repentance exists, then discipline is in order.” — Ted Haggard