“So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster” (Joel 2:13, BSB).

The beginning of this verse says to rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord. God didn’t want an empty display of repentance—He wanted actual repentance. Of course, actual heart repentance will result in a change of behavior. Repentance can be seen outwardly, at least with some time.

Here is another return verse. “So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him” (Hosea 12:6, NLT). This verse gives them two things they are to do in terms of coming back. They are to act with love and justice, and they are to depend on God. God wants them thinking and acting rightly toward God and each other. They are to depend on Him, meaning: they are to trust Him to be their God. He wants to be their God. He wants to be their Savior and Deliverer. He wants them to turn to Him for help so He can be their God. He also wants them acting with love and justice toward each other.

Here’s another verse that says the same thing with some different words to help us think about what the verse means for us. “The LORD of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another’” (Zechariah 7:9, CSB). Acting justly is making those fair decisions and making right decisions about matters. Acting with love is being faithful and showing compassion to one another.

If our hearts are turned to God, then those things are what we should be able to see. Those things should be able to be seen on the outside. The world should be able to see that our hearts are turned to God because we act with love and with justice and depend on our God.