The wrongness of the course or act must be recognized, and this requires an acknowledgment that God’s standards and will are righteous.

The person must see that he has sinned against God. (Ps 51:3, 4; Jer 3:25) This may be quite evident where open or direct blasphemy, vocal misuse of God’s name, or worship of other gods, as by use of idol images, is involved. (Ex 20:2-7) But even in what one might consider a “private matter” or something between himself and another human, wrongs committed must be recognized as sins against God, a treating of Jehovah with disrespect. (Compare 2Sa 12:7-14; Ps 51:4; Lu 15:21.) Even wrongs committed in ignorance or by mistake are to be recognized as making one guilty before the Sovereign Ruler, Jehovah God.​—Compare Le 5:17-19; Ps 51:5, 6; 119:67; 1Ti 1:13-16.