Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19
In the past, I’ve often written about forgiveness. How God forgives us, how we are to forgive each other, and how we must forgive ourselves. Forgiveness is necessary for our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Without it, we carry unnecessary hatred and guilt. But with forgiveness comes repentance.
Asking for forgiveness without repentance can’t be done, whether it’s asking it of an individual or from God. Say, we have a propensity for a particular sin–it doesn’t matter what it is; pick any sin. Now we know with certainty what we want to do is wrong. Whenever we do it, we experience the nudging of the angel on our shoulder saying, “No, no, no.” Yet, we listen to the devil on the other shoulder, saying, “Yes, yes, yes,” and do it anyway–all the time with the intention of asking forgiveness after the deed we know is wrong is done.
Repentance means being genuinely sorry for what we’ve done. It’s the difference between the mumbling “Sorry” our parents may have forced us to say to another child on the playground and a genuine wish for atonement. It’s taking ownership when we’ve caused harm, even when done unintentionally or when we were right, and honestly never wishing to commit the same sin.
God is compassionate and slow to anger. He understands we are imperfect and inherent to our humanity is sin, and he pardons us when we earnestly repent our sins and ask for forgiveness. He does this out of his love for us. At the same time, we do not want to be like the child who repeatedly asks for absolution for the same thing. We are not to test God’s patience.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your forgiveness when we come with humbled and contrite hearts. We confess, at times, we have asked forgiveness without repentance. Forgive us; we pray. Help us acknowledge our sin for what it is and earnestly seek to do better. Grant us strength when weak and the courage to confidently say “no” to sin. We ask this in the name of your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
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