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

#6311

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

#6310

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 

#5300