Repentance

What is repentance? My dictionary describes repentance this way ... "To feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin; to view or think of (an action or omission) with deep regret or remorse."

The origin of the word repent in Middle English comes from the Old French word ... "repentir." Breaking it down we have ... "re," meaning to express intensive force, together with "pentir," which is based on the Latin word "paenitere" meaning ... cause to repent.

This is speaking of natural human regret, wishing we hadn't done or said something in the way we proceeded.

Spiritual repentance though is a different matter. Repentance first comes to the sinner when he says ... "Lord, forgive me." Usually there is a conviction in the heart of wrong doing; you have missed the mark and you know you have failed in some way. This conviction you feel comes from God, and it is exactly as the French and Latin words express ... an intensive force which causes repentance. It's called, the Holy Spirit.

Dealing with simple minds like mine, I like to say, when a person repents ... not just of sin, but from sin ... it is a 180 degree u-turn in your walk. You change direction, you turn and walk the opposite way. There will be a change in your life style ... although it may not be an instantaneous change.

Nicholas Herman, the seventeenth century Carmelite monk from French Lorraine, said it this way ... "One does not become holy all at once." He continued with ... "We ought to put our whole trust in God, and make a total surrender of ourselves to Him, receiving the abundance of His grace, without which we can do nothing but sin."

He also said ... "We must leave the creature behind, distrust our own strength utterly, and commit ourselves wholly to His safekeeping."

"Leave the creature behind." That's the old nature of the sinner. This step is missed by many believers. How do we do that? One way is to have a heart of repentance every day.

Salvation isn’t just a past event, it’s an ongoing journey. Repentance is not a one-time event. Daily repentance is like throwing another log on a dying fire ... it brings that fire of submission and surrender to God back to life. 

Live a life of repentance. Never, ever, make peace with your sin. And, yes, Christians still sin.

Repentance is an active daily posture, an ongoing change of heart, not a magical one time grouping of words we repeated when we accepted Jesus as our Savior.

The good news?  It’s not about more effort ... because you can’t fix yourself ... it’s about more submission.  It’s about having the courage to face your brokenness, to admit your sinfulness, and to surrender who you are to Jesus. Daily.

Today. Tomorrow. Everyday.

I don't care whether you’ve been a believer for 30 minutes or 30 years.

Are you still struggling to conquer the so called demons that "good Christians" aren’t supposed to have?  Embrace repentance as a way of life.

Repentance is a daily confrontation with our brokenness and the ongoing application of the only remedy that really works ... submission to Jesus Christ. In everything.

While it is true that Satan, our tempter, the enemy of our souls, the one who lies in wait ... has been defeated by Jesus ... it is also true that the devil is still lurking around trying to get you to follow the dictates of the flesh, rather than obeying your heart and spirit.

Oswald Chambers, (1874-1917) the Scottish Protestant teacher and W.W. I chaplain spoke to this very thing when he said ... "We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered foe; so he is, but only to God, not to us."

Because of this very same fact, that the devil is lurking around tempting believers, the old French monk, 300 years ago also gave us this word of encouragement ...

"Think not that I counsel you to disregard completely and forever the outward things that are around us. That is impossible.

The world, the flesh, and the devil join forces and assault the soul so straitly and so untiringly that, without humble reliance on the ever-present aid of God, they drag the soul down in spite of all resistance.

The presence of God is thus the life and nourishment of the soul. The most needful, is the presence of God."

Repentance and submission brings the presence of God into your life.



Comments welcome.