Repentance Is More Than Feeling Bad
Godly Sorrow Does Not Just Make You Feel Something, It Moves You to Change Something
Of course you feel bad when you sin. The Holy Spirit lives inside you! Of course conviction hurts. You know God sees what nobody else sees, the secret behavior, hidden compromise, private conversations, repeated excuses, and the sin you keep promising yourself will be the last time.
Yet feeling guilty is not the same as repenting.
2 Corinthians 7:10 AMPC “For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].”
Repentance is more than tears. More than embarrassment. More than getting caught. More than saying, “God, I’m sorry,” and returning to the same behavior without a fight.
Biblical repentance says, “Lord, I agree with You about my sin, I turn away from it, and I turn myself back toward You.”
Acts 3:19 AMPC, “So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;”
Notice the language, “change your mind and purpose, Turn around, Return to God.”
That is repentance!
The question is not merely, “Do I feel terrible about what I did?”
The question is, “Is my sorrow producing surrender, transformation, changed decisions, changed boundaries, changed behavior, and a recommitment to Jesus Christ?”
Stop confusing conviction with completion.
Conviction is God calling you to repentance and repentance is your response to that call.
Question For Today
Are you truly repenting of the sin that keeps convicting you—or have you simply become comfortable feeling guilty about something you still refuse to change?
If You Have Ears To Hear, Then Hear It!
I pray for you each and every day.
All God's Best!
Karl McKinnie
If you enjoy and learn from us, we have over 700 Bible-based narratives available at www.buymeacoffee.com/drministries/posts. As always, every narrative is completely FREE. The voluntary support option simply helps us continue sharing God's Word around the world.
Dominion Renaissance Ministries - www.dominionrenaissanceministries.church