1. Humble themselves – see their sin and the gravity of it.  There is a deep realization and sorrow for their deeds and spiritual state.
2. Pray – Ask for forgiveness. Psalm139:24 David said: “Search me O LORD, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the path everlasting.”
3. Seek my face – study the word of God to show themselves to be approved with an earnest desire to know Him.  2 Timothy 2:15 – “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  It’s a desire to know Him, serve him, and walk in all His ways.
4. Turn from their wicked ways – turn their lives away from their will to follow God’s will and ways

• These four steps above are all necessary for true repentance
• It’s more than saying the words and then not changing or only changing in the short term
• It’s realizing, deep in your heart, the effects of sin and a godly sorrow for what you’ve done and the state you’re in
• It’s recognizing the consequences your sin has on your relationship with God, others, and self.

Some Christians would minimize the gravity of sin by saying something like “I’m just not as close to God as I should be” or “It’s okay. Everyone is doing it [fill in the blank].  Even my Christian friends are doing it” or “God will forgive me.  He’s a loving God.”  I had done the same for many years; doing my own thing, blurring the lines of obedience and sin.  Some may say that’s being Pharisaical after all God is love.  But that’s not what the bible teaches.  Sin, in any degree, always separates us from Him.  Yes, God is a God of love but He rebukes and disciplines those He loves.  Yes, God will forgive when we confess our sin.  He will restore us to fellowship with Him and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  However, the consequences of our sin in this world may not be removed.  They may haunt us for the rest of our lives! 

I personally bear in my body the consequences of sin.  I had an accident at work in 1981 that left a hand permanently scarred and partially disabled.  I was in a rush to finish my work for the day so I could get to the bar and get drunk.  I pushed a rack of 60 half gallon milk bottles (yes, I was a milkman…) into a hose.  The rack fell over taking me along with it.  I fell on top of broken glass with a piece of a bottle going nearly through my left hand.  It severed a tendon, hit nerves, and caused permanent damage to that hand.  It took five hours of microsurgery to put it back together.  While that accident directly led to my salvation, turning my ruined drunken life over to a loving Savior, the consequences of my sin remain with me to this day.  There is constant pain and diminished use of my left hand that God has chosen to leave with me as a “mark” of His ownership of me and a reminder of the life He has brought me out of.  My salvation experience was the first time God taught me about repentance.  Was the accident painful?  Did it permanently scar my life?  The answer to these questions is yes.  But the gift I received through repentance brought eternal life. 

The whole story to this passage of scripture can be found in Revelation 3:14-22 NIV1984 :