“Let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, ‘We have sinned and rebelled.’” Lamentations 3:40-42 (NLT)

The path to a fresh start and a clear conscience begins with repentance. You take an honest, in-depth look at your life, and ask God to show you your blind spots so you can identify your sin. You review every area of your life—and then repent of every sin.

What does it mean to repent? It means three things: First, you take responsibility for your sin. Second, you turn away from those things. And third, you turn toward God and his grace.

The Bible says, “Let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, ‘We have sinned and rebelled’” (Lamentations 3:40-42 NLT).

Repentance does not mean rationalizing your sin. You don’t say, “It was no big deal.” It was a big deal, or you wouldn’t have remembered it. You don’t say, “It happened so long ago” or “It was just a stage I went through” or “Everybody does it.” It doesn’t matter! You cannot rationalize sin, minimize it, excuse it, or blame others. That is not true repentance.

Pay attention to this: The greatest holdup to the healing of your hang-up is you. You’re not waiting on God; you’re not waiting on anybody else. God wants to heal the hurts, destructive habits, and hang-ups in your life, but the greatest holdup is you.

The Bible says in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (NIV).

Would you like to get rid of the self-defeating habits in your life? You will stop defeating yourself when you stop deceiving yourself. It all starts with gut-level honesty and recognizing that something is wrong, no matter how much you want to rationalize it and excuse it.

You need to admit it, confess it, and get it out of your life. Then, God can start healing the hurt. He can give you healthy new habits to make you more like Jesus. And he can help you move past the hang-ups, leading you into freedom and a deeper relationship with him.