Have you ever thought of repentance as a privilege or a gift? I once heard that repentance is like turning around and seeing the most glorious sunset. Without repentance, the blessing of that beautiful view was just one 180-degree turn away. Just out of reach.
Repentance is NOT an opportunity for God to wag His finger at us, holding those blessings just out of reach until we follow the rule of repenting. It’s OUR choice to turn our back on our sin and back toward His blessing.
Before Jesus atoned for our sins at Calvary, tearing the veil (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38) to give His children full access to Him, God’s people had to follow strict rules and regulations at certain times of the year to make sacrifices so that their repentance would count, so that they would be right with God. Can you imagine? By grace and the blood shed by Jesus, all WE have to do as followers of Jesus is get quiet, and in faith, step into the throne room of our Father, repent with our own words and our own heart at ANY TIME of the day or night. We don’t have to wait to be restored, to turn toward His most beautiful glory!
I became a Christian at the same time as one of my dear friends. It was so amazing to watch the ways that the Lord was sanctifying (bringing us back to God's ways) the two of us. For me, it seemed that He was ridding me of gossip first. For her, He was working on her habit of cursing. Over the years, He has sanctified us in areas of our alcohol use and financial stewardship. The longer you walk with Jesus, the less you find yourself sinning in all of the obvious ways--the ways that can be seen by those around you--and the more He begins to show you the sins in your heart.
The longer you walk with Jesus, the less you find yourself sinning in all of the obvious ways--the ways that can be seen by those around you--and the more He begins to show you the sins in your heart.
Some of them, we carry around for years before He shines a light on them. And sometimes, He even waits until we mature and humble ourselves enough to actually ask Him to show us where we might have sin that we can’t see without the Holy Spirit.
Whether we intentionally sin, or sin deep in our hearts where only Holy Spirit can convict us, each sin is like opening a door. The sin may have opened the door nice and wide, or it may have just opened a small crack. Our enemy is a shapeshifter - he can walk through a wide open door or he can slip through the slightest crack like a cockroach.
Our first defense? Repentance! If we are quick to repent, that cracked door shuts before the enemy can squeeze through. If the enemy has already gotten a foothold, causing some kind of chaos in our lives, our first battle move is repentance. Repentance for the sin that was revealed to us. Repentance for any lies that we believe about God, ourselves, or others. Repentance for any wrong agreements we have made that do not align with what Heaven says about God, ourselves, or others.
Repentance is not meant to be a downer, a place of shame or guilt. Jesus took all of that away at the Cross. He wants us to approach His throne with bold confidence, seeing repentance as an opportunity to jump right back into connection with God, right back into His will for our lives and the lives of those in our sphere of influence.
Repentance is the way that we TURN from sin and TOWARD His majestic glory. Repentance is a gift and a privilege.
Remember? Our Father in Heaven knows how to give us very good gifts!
Ask Holy Spirit if there is any unclean way in you that you may not be seeing.
Echo the Psalm of David, who says:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24
He will show you! He wants to restore the vision that you didn’t even realize was cloudy or tinted.
🙏Thank you, Jesus, that because of what you did on the Cross, we can come to the throne in faith, not shame or guilt, and repent of everything that is standing between us and You. We want the fullness of life that you have for us!🙏
-Niki Hathorn, Worthy Content Writer
*This is part of our quarterly series: Empowered to Repent. Join our discussion on our social media platforms.
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