Sorry

When I was young, well, younger, after I had done something wrong, Mom would make me apologize. Often, in order to emphasize the attitude changes that should be occurring, she would ask, "What does 'sorry' mean?" So there was no mistake, she would tell us: "'Sorry' means that you don't do it again."

I think it works the same way with God. When we come to our senses and realize how much wrong we have done God by disobeying Him, we have to apologize, both to Him and to the people we have been ungodly towards. We tend to want to say it in more words, but essentially what we say is "God, I'm sorry."

My question is, are we sorry? Do we really give up what we were doing before, never to do it again? If we are, there should be a definite and distinct difference in both our attitude and our actions. When we are sorry, our outlook shifts from our own justification to being focused on what is right for the other person; our actions also reflect this -- we are willing to repay (when before we weren't), we place ourselves at their mercy (so they can exact whatever will propitiate them), etc.

Is this how we are toward God, letting Him take whatever He wants? How are we toward others? Do we take what we think is fair, or do we put their happiness first?