Here’s a helpful, clear quote from John Thomas at Boundless.org on the nature of true repentance: 

True repentance bears fruit [Matthew 3:8], and looks like this: it offers nothing to God but spiritual poverty and a desperate heart desiring to change. It results in humility, gratitude, and a deep compassion for others who have or who are experiencing the same sin and blindness.

via Ineffective Forgiveness? .