The moment comes when he is to jump. He goes to the door of the airplane and sees the ground 7, feet below. That man has repented. That story illustrates how repentance works. Repentance is a change in the way I think that leads to change in the way I live. Repentance is a decisive change in direction. Excerpt from Repent! I meet so many people today who are scared of that word. Yet, very few actually understand what that little word means.
You may be surprised to learn the word repent in the Greek New Testament simply means to turn around. It was a military term that described a soldier marching in one direction and then doing an about-face. So really, repent is a perfect description of what happens when you come to Christ. You do a spiritual about-face, which in turn changes everything.
And not only do you change your mind about Christ, but you change your mind about sin as well as you discover what it really means to honor God. Wrap your mind around this! Get on board! The word for faith in the Bible is the same as belief. It means to accept something as true. When we grasp the meanings of repentance and faith, it makes all the more sense that these two are paired together throughout scripture.
Why is faith an important part? Well, because you can repent, change your mind, be convinced that something is wrong, and then go a different wrong way. What is genuine repentance? Well, if you are truly convinced, if your mind is changed, then your actions will show it.
Even the secular world has picked up on this. The men on the boat believed in many gods. Then, they acted on their new beliefs — tossing Jonah, giving sacrifices, and making vows to God.
You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? James is saying that if you are truly convinced that Jesus is the way, then you will walk in it.
You may have heard people mention concerns about truly and fully repenting. Perhaps in your mind, you are not fully convinced or have no strong feelings about your wrongdoing.
Draw near to God and study His word. He says if you seek Him and His kingdom, He will give you what you need to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. Pray that God will grant you repentance — a true transformational conviction.
And ask Him for the faith to believe that His ways are better. Shame is sin and self-focused. It will keep you from true conviction. Nineveh was called to change their hell-bent ways steeped in sin and pride. But when they were called out, they responded to God. They humbled themselves and threw themselves at the mercy of God. These people underwent changes of moral convictions and beliefs that led to a change of behavior They were transformed in their understanding which led to a change in heart and behavior.
They repented. When God calls us to repentance, He is challenging us to taste and see that He is good Psalm He wants us to trust in His truth and ways and not on our old ways of thinking Proverbs This is why we find repentance so often paired with faith. Conviction is an invitation to repentance, not shame. By this definition, I find myself in a regular pattern of repentance. When my first born was very young, I was told that unless a child cries, they are not truly repentant. This false teacher convinced me that caring for my child spiritually meant making her feel bad.
Fortunately, God transformed my thinking and I believed that she could learn and change her behavior without shame and tears. I stopped trying to make her cry and became a more godly parent. God does not condemn us. So how does He lead us to repentance? Our good Father uses the opposite tactic of what I was using. Correcting with mercy, kindness, and gentleness is a powerful motivator towards repentance. Paul says that even our opponents can be brought to repentance by gentleness and truth.
Hopefully, you see the pattern here. The call to repentance is not a call to shame. It is a call to examine your direction and reorient yourself towards God. In the end, only the Holy Spirit can bring true conviction and repentance John Do you feel like you have a clearer understanding of the true meaning of repentance? Has this challenged any of your previous beliefs about what repentance is?
This post has excerpts from the lesson on repentance in Parenting in Christ: Treasures for Parenting from Jesus. If you found this helpful, get a copy of the book. You might also enjoy reading these blog posts on understanding and teaching godliness:.
Your email address will not be published. The parrot had a bad attitude and a profane mouth. It was just plain rude, vulgar and obnoxious. He resorted to using nothing but polite words, playing soothing music and several other tactics — all to no avail. Finally, he lost his temper and yelled at the parrot. Immediately the parrot screamed back. This infuriated the young man, so he grabbed the parrot and shook it.
Doing so resulted in the bird really getting its feathers in a ruffle, so that it reacted even more rudely than before. In utter frustration, the young man stuck the parrot in the freezer.
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