Courage to Repent

“For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control”.   II Tim. 1:7 GNT

Do you remember the story of the Prodigal son?    Remember how he disrespected his father by taking his share of the inheritance while the father was still alive?  He then wasted it on the things of the world.

But after he hit rock bottom, he realized the error of his ways and he got up and went back to his father’s house.   He said to his father, “I have sinned against heaven and against you I am no longer worthy to be called your son.   Make me like one of your hired men”.

But that is not what his father did, instead, he said to his servants, “Bring the best robe and put it on my son.   Put my ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.   My son is alive!  I prayed for him to come back to me day after day and now I have him back safe!”

That’s how God treats each and every person who comes back to Him.   No matter who you are or what you have done, you can still come back to Jesus!

True repentance is not just about feeling sorry for yourself, because you did something wrong.  It is feeling sorry enough to change your life.   It means saying, “I am sorry for what I have done and I am not going to do it anymore!  No more giving in to the same old sin!   I am making a change in my life starting right now”!

There are two Greek words in the NT for repentance.  The first one is “metanoia” which means to change your mind.  When you repent you are changing your mind about your sin and you are changing your mind about Jesus!

In Acts 2:38 when Peter says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,” he is using this word.   He is saying that if you want to be right with God, you have to change your mind about the way you have been living.

The second Greek word is “anastrepho” which means to turn around.   Changing your mind about your sin is not enough.  You have to turn your life around and stop sinning.    In John 5, when Jesus heals the crippled man by the pool of Bethesda, He says, “You are now physically healed, but you are not spiritually healed.  You need to stop sinning or something worse is going to happen to you.”

Once we confess our sins, we also need to forsake them forever.  

“You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins.  Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you”.  Prov. 28:13  GNT