CHOOSING REPENTANCE – Part 3 of 3

If you are tired of the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of guilt, these five steps of action will help you develop an attitude of repentance.

1.    Identify areas of your life where you have failed to meet God’s standards. The first step in repentance is an honest evaluation of every part of your life. The Psalmist prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)

2.    Acknowledge your failure to God. To humble yourself before God means to sincerely acknowledge your failure and your need for forgiveness.

3.    Accept God’s forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 declares, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

4.    Make restitution where necessary. If we have wronged another person, it is necessary for us to seek that person’s forgiveness. And, like Zacheus, monetary restitution might also be in order. Such an action is a sign of genuine repentance.

5.    Turn away from known sin in your life. It is possible to follow the first steps without truly repenting. The word repent carries the idea of turning around… turning from sin to God

You may have been traveling down the road of unresolved guilt for a long time. Don’t be discouraged. There is a way out. Decide you are tired of going in that direction; ask for God’s forgiveness, make any necessary restitution, and turn around.

-- Adapted from “Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life” (1992) by Robert Jeffress

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CHOOSING REPENTANCE – Part 2 of 3

Contrary to popular opinion, repentance is not an emotion; but it is an attitude that leads to specific action. The Greek word metanoeo, which is translated “repent,” means “to change one’s mind.” The word pictures someone heading in one direction who, because of a change of mind, starts going in another direction. Maybe you have had the experience of driving down a street and suddenly noticing that all of the street signs are backwards and every other car is headed in the opposite direction, including those in your lane! What do you do? You make a quick U-turn and head in the opposite direction in order to avoid some serious consequences. In the same way, repentance both honestly acknowledges failure and causes a change of direction.

Repentance is not a popular topic today, because it requires us to honestly confront sin. None of us likes to be reminded of our faults. As the writer Maurice Samuel put it, “No man loves his alarm clock.” And yet the failure to confront sin can have a much more severe consequence than driving the wrong way down a one-way street or refusing to set an alarm clock. What is the result of not repenting? In a word, guilt.

The Psalmist captures this in Psalm 32:5. “Then I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” 

-- Adapted from “Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life” (1992) by Robert Jeffress

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CHOOSING REPENTANCE – Part 1 of 3

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season the Church sets aside for reflection, humility, and renewed dependence on God. When the ashes are placed on our foreheads, as will be done today in many churches around the globe, we’re reminded of two profound truths: our human frailty and God’s endless mercy. The ashes don’t shame us -- they invite us to honesty. They call us to repent -- to turn FROM the sinful patterns that pull us away from God and to return TO the One who welcomes us with grace.

CHOOSING REPENTANCE – Part 1 of 3

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  (Acts 3:19 NIV)

Many years ago, the following note in the thief’s handwriting was found in a stolen Trans Am returned by police to its owner in Los Angeles: “Your CB is in the trunk. The radio is out because I couldn’t stop my friend from taking it (insurance will cover radio). I’m sorry it had to be your car, but I was looking for one and the car lot left the key in and unattended. Your left back tire loses a little air at times. Your brake light comes on a lot and sometimes stays on when you drive (check your brakes.) I hope this didn’t put you out for me taking your car. I would have preferred a dealer’s car. But this was all that was available. Sorry (needs gas).”

Everyone -- including car thieves -- at one time or another faces moral failure. How do we deal with such failure? We have a choice. We can choose to ignore it or we can repent. Repentance is an attitude that chooses to confront sin rather than ignore it. And such an attitude choice is absolutely vital to our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Unfortunately, most of us have a limited view of repentance. We tend to think of repentance only in terms of salvation. The word repent conjures up images of some scraggly street preacher announcing the end of the world via a sandwich board. Yet, an examination of Scripture reveals that repentance is an attitude that is more characteristic of Christians than of non-Christians. It is not just a one-time action that ensures heaven after we die.  Instead, repentance is an attitude that confronts and deals with failure in every area of life. Martin Luther understood this truth. The first of the Ninety-five Theses he nailed to the church door in Wittenberg in 1517 read, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘repent,’ He willed that the entire life of believers be one of repentance.” 

-- Adapted from “Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life” (1992) by Robert Jeffress

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OUR NEED FOR REPENTANCE

“Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me… The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  (Psalm 51:11,17)

Several qualities are no doubt missing from a good deal of religious experience as it is commonly known in our day, but perhaps nothing is more serious than our failure to see our need for repentance. I think this is partly because we don’t understand the nature of sin. If, as some contemporaries say, other generations were guilt obsessed, our generation today is expert in avoiding the sense of guilt. This is because we have so limited a theology of sin. We define sin by tabloid headlines, which give most of us a degree of comfort, since our sins are only occasionally dramatic. We don’t realize that sin, even as we experience it in its most pedestrian forms, is a violation of the very nature of our universe, a universe whose original core is utterly right because it is of God. We have a further handicap in that our theology of God is inadequate. Popular theology has made God so cozy and so accessible that we can’t understand why the Eternal One should be troubled by our erratic ways.

But above all, we fail at repentance because our friendship with God has so little passion. The Scriptures say that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s the language of passion, the language we generally reserve for moments of compelling romance or consuming friendship. It is only when God becomes such a friend -- yes, and far more, because the element of eternity enters into our friendship -- that we are struck with terror at the thought of losing this friendship. It is in such a mood that godly repentance is born. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Longing to Pray: How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God”

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THE QUESTION OF SUFFERING – Part 2 of 3

We may not be able to make out all the peripheral details of why, but there are some biblical truths that can illuminate some helpful points of light for us. Let me mention five that I've found helpful:

• First Point of Light: God is not the creator of evil and suffering.

Genesis 1:31 says everything God made “was very good.” But if God is not the author of evil, then where did it come from? God created us with free will so we could love Him -- because real love always entails the ability to love or not to love. Unfortunately, we abused our freedom by rejecting God’s love and walking away from Him. And that resulted in the introduction of evil into our lives and into the world.

• Second Point of Light: Though suffering is not good, God can use it to accomplish good.

Romans 8:28 promises: “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Notice it doesn't say that God causes the evil and suffering, just that He will cause some kind of good to emerge. And it doesn't say we will see immediately or even in this life how God has brought good out of the bad circumstance -- just that it will happen for those of us who love Him.

• Third Point of Light: The day is coming when suffering will cease and God will judge evil.

“If God has the power to vanquish evil and suffering,” people ask, “then why doesn't He do it?” But just because He hasn't done it yet doesn't mean He won't do it. The Bible says the day will come when sickness and pain will be eradicated and people will be held accountable for the evil they've committed. Justice will be served…

Also, “the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise … He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In other words, God hasn’t vanquished evil yet because He’s waiting to first reach some of us!

• Fourth Point of Light: Our suffering will pale in comparison to what God has in store for His followers.

Paul said in Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” This is not to deny the reality of pain in our lives. But after 354,484,545 days of pure bliss in heaven, we’ll look back and realize that these difficult days in this world aren't worth comparing to an eternity of blessings and joy with Him.

• Fifth Point of Light: We decide whether to turn bitter or turn to God for peace and courage.

We've all seen examples of how the same suffering that causes one person to turn bitter and reject God can cause another person to turn to God. We all make the choice to either run away from God or to run to Him. But as one who’s tried both responses, let me assure you: it’s much better to run to Him!

-- Lee Strobel in “The Case for Christianity Answer Book” 

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OVERRUN WITH GARBAGE

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  (Acts 3:19 NIV)

If the process of repentance is worthy of the name, we engage in the deepest kind of soul-searching, and in the process we rid ourselves of a great deal of garbage. Environmental experts tell us that our nation’s metropolitan areas are in danger of being overrun with rubbish. What is physically true of our cities is still more painfully and eternally true of our souls. Unconfessed sin, whatever its form -- bitter memories, resentments, thoughtless words, moral and ethical betrayals -- will eventually stifle the soul unless it is dealt with. The human soul can endure only so much garbage; repentance consumes it in a merciful conflagration. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Longing to Pray: How the Psalms Teach Us to Talk with God “

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ASH WEDNESDAY BEGINS OUR LENTEN JOURNEY

“From that time Jesus began to preach His message: ‘Turn away from your sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!’”  (Matthew 4:17)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and preparation leading up to Easter. It is a time for Christians to turn their hearts toward God, acknowledging their sin and human frailty and seeking His grace and mercy.

Some churches use ashes on Ash Wednesday, typically made from the palm branches of the previous year's Palm Sunday. When applied to the forehead in the shape of a cross, or on the back of the hand, they serve as a visible reminder of our mortality and the need for repentance. The words often spoken during this ritual, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," echo the humility and dependence on God's forgiveness that this day symbolizes.

Ash Wednesday invites us to pause and consider the state of our hearts. It is a call to let go of sin, to seek reconciliation with God, and to embark on a spiritual journey of renewal. This day also encourages acts of charity, prayer, and fasting, helping us to draw closer to God and to our community.

As we begin this Lenten journey, let us reflect on our need for God's grace and commit to walking the path of repentance and transformation. May this sacred time be an opportunity for deepening our faith and embracing the hope and promise of resurrection in Christ. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry, compiled from a variety of sources

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THE RESPONSE TO GRACE

“From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’”  (Matthew 4:17 NLT)

The more deeply one enters into the experience of the sacred the more one is aware of one’s own personal sin and the destructive forces in society. The fact that one is alive to what is possible for humankind sharpens one’s sense that we are fallen people. The awareness of sin is the inevitable consequence of having met grace... This grace-judgment dynamic reveals that the center of Christian life is repentance. This does not mean that the distinguishing mark of the Christian is breast-beating. Feeling sorry, acknowledging guilt, and prolonging regret may be components of the human condition, but they are not what Jesus means by repentance. Repentance is the response to grace that overcomes the past and opens out to a new future. Repentance distinguishes Christian life as one of struggle and conversion and pervades it, not with remorse, but with hope. The message of Jesus is not “Repent,” but “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 

-- Adapted from John Shea in “A Star at Its Rising”

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TURNING AWAY FROM GOD

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:6)

Augustine shows clearly the religious character of sin. Sin for him is not a moral failure; it is not even disobedience.  Disobedience is a consequence but not the cause. The cause is: turning away from God, and from God as the highest good, as the love with which God loves Himself through us. For this reason, since sin has this character -- if you say "sins", it is easily dissolved into moral sins; but sin is first of all basically the… turning away from God.  For this very reason, no moral remedy is possible.  Only one remedy is possible: return to God.  But this of course is possible only in the power of God.

-- Paul Tillich (1886-1965) in “A History of Christian Thought”

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YOU-TURNS ARE PERMITTED

Our home is on a cul-de-sac off of a dead end -- the dead end of a dead end. My wife and I can sit on our deck and watch cars come into our cul-de-sac thinking it is the way out. They quickly turn right around and go back down the street. 

Lent is a time of repentance. When one repents one turns around, changes direction. A dead end street is a good place to turn around.

Have you reached a point in life where you have realized that you have been going in the wrong direction? Have you reached a dead end? Do you need to turn around?

God is in the you-turn business. "I am sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between light and dark, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in Me."  (Acts 26:17-18 MSG)

Real living in Christ begins with a you-turn. It begins with repentance. And you don't need to wait until you've reached a dead end.  

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson 

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THE NATURE OF REPENTANCE

“Perhaps you do not understand that God is kind to you so you will change your hearts and lives.”  (Romans 2:4)

No one is happier than the one who has sincerely repented of wrong. Repentance is the decision to turn from selfish desires and seek God. It is a genuine, sincere regret that creates sorrow and moves us to admit wrong and desire to do better.

It's an inward conviction that expresses itself in outward actions.

You look at the love of God and you can't believe He's loved you like He has, and this realization motivates you to change your life. That is the nature of repentance.

-- Max Lucado in Walking with the Savior


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REPENT AND TURN TO CHRIST

"This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus,…" (1 Timothy 2:3-5 NRSV

Repeatedly in Scripture, God calls people to repent, turn to Him, choose the path of life, and do the right thing. These calls seem to indicate that we are not mere puppets, but that human beings, by the grace of God, have the ability to choose good or evil, faith or unbelief.

[In the 1700's John] Wesley spent his life traveling by horseback, in his later years by carriage, to nearly every town and village across England and at times into Ireland, Scotland, and Wales offering Christ to sinners. During the many years when he was rejected by his colleagues and not permitted to preach in their churches, he would go to the center of town where often there stood a "market cross," and from its steps he would preach to the crowds. He preached atop gravestones, including his own father's, and on hilltops and anywhere else he could draw a crowd and be heard.  He was beaten, harassed, and at times pummeled with eggs, rotten vegetables, and even rocks. He did this for decades. Why? Because he believed that God "desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

-- Adam Hamilton in Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It


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HEADED TOWARD GOD

Once I started toward God, I never really stopped and was never really in need of starting over.

Was I ever in need of confession and forgiveness and grace and a touch of providence itself?  Certainly.  Was I in need of turning toward God as though we were strangers to each other and had never met?  No, not once.  Which makes me no different from you, though it may well have taken me a lot longer to figure it out.

Once we start home toward God… we simply do not ever turn around and head in another direction.  There is no other direction.  And in the moments when we feel as if we are so turned around that we will never get home, somebody turns up and nudges us a couple of points to starboard, whichever direction that is.  Suddenly, without being particularly conscious of it or faithful about it, we sense that we are headed toward God again full blast.

-- Robert Benson in Between the Dreaming and the Coming True


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