Growing up with two younger brothers, we would occasionally have misunderstandings,and our mother would catch us fighting. She would have us tell each other we were sorry. There was no repentance just sorry we got caught. Randy and I always misbehaved at church in worship. We did it so often, when we got home, we would go in the bathroom, bend over the commode, and wait for dad to give us our licks. Again, sorry we got caught, but no repentance.
Many times growing up, I would do something I shouldn't, and say I was sorry. I am more mature now, and if I do or say something wrong or disrespectful to another, I will sincerely say I am sorry. I back it up with a change of heart(repentance) not wanting to damage the relationship with the person involved.
Even in my marriage, I have said things or acted in a way that I shouldn't toward Debbie. Not only do I tell her I am sincerely sorry, I try my best to repent and never do it again. Why? Because I love her and I do not want to damage our relationship.
Many today, when caught doing wrong, will say they are sorry. It is usually a worldly sorrow. Just sorry they got caught. One time before church services I met with a young man who professed to be a Christian which had the reputation of drinking and partying. I asked him about his behavior, and he admitted his wrong doing and said he would go forward after the sermon to confess and repent of this sin. He did, but he was partying again in a few days. We have all been there sometime in our life.
Repentance is a change of direction in your thinking. Whatever sin you may be involved in, you want to change direction and not continue in that sin. What makes us want to repent? For many, it is a fear of going to hell, and for others it is a desire to go to heaven.
I would like to go to the Bible and read about a few cases of repentance. First, let's go to 1 Samuel 15:22-26. Saul disobeyed God, and his rebellion was as bad as the sin of witchcraft. He later blamed his sin on the people. Saying, he feared them and obeyed their voice. No godly sorrow here, nor do we ever see Saul having a good relationship with God again. Now let's turn to a story we are all familiar. In II Samuel 12:7-13, David was confronted by Nathan about his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. David said he had sinned against the Lord, but in Psalms 51 we see his heart flow out to God. He had a heart which did not want to lose the relationship he had with God. Psalms 51 is a beautiful prayer of repentance.
The New Testament gives us the account of Peter, who said he would die for Christ. Instead, he denied Him three times. In Matthew 26:69-75 we see Peter went out and wept bitterly. Why did he do this? He had a relationship with Christ, and it devastated him in knowing he denied Him three times. Later in Acts, we see the great servant of God that Peter became. In Matt.27:3-5, we read were Judas was sorry, but instead of having a change of heart(repentance) went out and hanged himself.
What do we have to do, before we are willing to repent? First, we have to know what sin is,which sin we are committing, and who ultimately we are sinning against. For us to change our hearts and go in a different direction, there has to be a reason. In my life as I get closer to God, when I do something contrary to His will, I repent of the sin seeking His forgiveness. I do not want to loose the relationship I have with Him. I want to be walking in the light and having full fellowship with Him. I had to be taught this. I was taught at an early age about sin, and also the love God has for us. I began to search the scriptures daily to help me grow my Christianity in this life. Can I still sin? Yes I can, but I hope when I do, I will have the same godly sorrow that Peter had and repent.
I have said many times, the people in the United States need to humble themselves before God and repent of their sins, turning to Jesus, and obey the Gospel. I ask you a serious question. What would make them repent? We now have a second generation that does not know God. The only glimpse of God they may have is Christians. Many have tried to take God out of the public life. Others make fun of Christians for standing against sin.They cannot have godly sorrow until they know how much God loves them and how much He abhors sin. Many do not believe in hell. Some think when you die you just die.
Christians, we have an enormous and critical task before us. I myself need to repent of the idea someone else will spread the Gospel of Christ. I need to have a faith as the early Christians had. One that the whip, sword, being thrown to wild animals, or being burned alive could not stop.
Times were terrible in the 1st century. Twelve men full of the Holy Ghost, on a mission for God, preached Christ crucified, shed His blood for the sins of mankind,and raised from the dead. No TV, No Text Messaging, No emailing, No Facebook, not even a copy of the New Testament. Those twelve turned the world upside down. They lived right, obeyed God, did what was right in God's eyes instead of their own eyes, and all were one, speaking the same thing. They knew how much God loved humanity, and they wanted to teach the Gospel to as many as possible. What faith, persistence, and courage they had. Then the early church went on the same mission, teaching the lost.
Christians, I am going to ask some hard questions that may not be easy for you to answer, but I am asking myself first. Do we need to go and repent before we ask someone else to? How does the world and other Christians see us? Do we love unconditionally, and are we forgiving? Do they see us putting God first in our lives? Do they see us as hypocritical or strong in our faith? When they are around us do we show them that we care about them? Do we come across as being humble with the message or self righteous? Most importantly, do they see our relationship with God as one we value so much that we never wish to hurt God by habitually sinning against Him?
When we Christians get our lives on the right tract and others see God's word living in us, the word will attract the world. And yes, they will want to repent from the life that has brought them hardship and no hope. How blessed it will be when we see people repenting and obeying the Gospel of Christ. Seeing the hope of heaven in their eyes will be more of a reward than anything this world can offer.
Christians, we can do this. We have chosen to be Christians and along with this choice there is a mission.
God is good! Let's live like He is!
I am going to have to cut back to writing 3 or 4 post a week. I have started writing a book and need to spend time on it. I haven't decided on the title yet, but it may be: Christians-Can We Talk?
Please send this to family and friends. I am trying to increase the number of readers. Other than here in the good ole USA, I have had people from, Germany, United Kingdom and Australia. Many of you have commented and some have helped in editing. I am very grateful.
Please send comments to rhepler52@gmail.com .
Thanks so much!
Rick Hepler
