Founders Note: Today on the blog we have one of our monthly contributors Meg, she is sharing her heart on this months theme: Repentance. You can find more about her and her blog on our About Page!
I believe repentance is not a “one and done” thing. I think that as sinners, even though we are striving to be more like Jesus every day and turn away from our sins, the reality is we aren’t capable of doing that completely.
Repentance. Strong word. Strong meaning.
What is repentance? The dictionary says it’s a noun, a word meaning deep regret for past actions and wrongdoing.
The Bible takes it further though, saying that repentance IS expressing sorrow, but ALSO changing one’s mind and heart, and in doing so, change will come about. (Luke 3: 8-14; Acts 3:19; Acts 26:20).
I believe repentance is not a “one and done” thing. I think that as sinners, even though we are striving to be more like Jesus every day and turn away from our sins, the reality is we aren’t capable of doing that completely.
We have been forgiven for past and future transgressions, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do them.
It’s like a kid and a parent. All we want the kid to do is to confess and help them truly SEE the wrong they did, not bury them in guilt for it.
That’s what I believe God wants from us. To continually, daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute, seek Him. Seek repentance. Turn from the wrong and turn toward Jesus.
If your heart is pure and you truly desire God to change you, that’s when true repentance has happened.
And like children with their parents, as C. John Miller wrote “..pursue ongoing repentance as a child of the King, not as an orphan.”
Know that God desires to come to you and talk with you, in the midst of your problems. And he wants to be there to hug us and pick us back up when we repent.
*C. John Miller quote used from Michael Johnson’s article on desiringgod.org “How to Repent as a Christian.”
"If your heart is pure and you truly desire God to change you, that’s when true repentance has happened." I love this line! Repentance is something I think our culture really gets backwards sometimes. Non-believers especially just assume you can do whatever you want and ask for forgiveness later, but that's really a sign of your heart and where it truly lies!
ReplyDeleteThanks for these thoughts ladies!
I think even as believers it's sometimes still a hard concept! I know it was/is for me!
ReplyDelete