Let our repentance be shown through our actions

Saying sorry is not supposed to be easy.  It’s also not supposed to be about the other person.  It’s about us.  It’s about being moved to say sorry because YOU feel bad.  Not because they do.  If we say sorry only because we know the other person was hurt by us then we really don’t want to bring the healing necessary to mend the relationship.  It’s still about how they got hurt when it’s supposed  to be about what you had done to hurt them.  You make it their problem.  Part of this can be fear.  Fear of realizing you were wrong, fear of being remembered as someone who hurts others.  Our pride can also lead us to believe we would never make a mistake.  When we make mistakes it feels like we lose creditability.

We must come to a place where our sorry is not about what is going to happen afterwards but about what has already happened.  It should be about us, who hurt someone, feeling bad and feeling a need to be healed.

When we hurt we need to be healed.  It may not even make a difference to the person you ask for forgiveness from.  It’s a real “sorry” when it’s something that WE feel a need to say after we had hurt them.  After we ask for forgiveness they may never give it to us or even go around telling everyone of how we just bowed in repentance to them.  They may not of been affected by what we did to them.   Don’t let these things get in the way of how WE need healing to return to a place of peace in Jesus!  Repentance is supposed to heal our heart!   Allow God to reveal our ways to us so He can show us where we went wrong.

Just like with the Lord when we sin.  We talk about how we break His heart when we sin.  What about what it does to our hearts?  HE is Lord and we hurt Him.  We sinned against Him.  His heart is broken!  He’s not thinking of impending doom.  That’s what we think of!  Our ways are not His ways!  He loves us.  He is the only one who can offer what is best for us.  He knows what “best” is and He can make it happen.  Let Him show us where we were wrong and lead us back to where we can be right with Him.  We know Him and desire to please Him.  We are sensitive to what He wants.

So many times we want everyone else to do their part.  We can point to the splinter in our brother’s eye but leave the log in our own.  To me there is more than just humbling yourself in this analogy.  There is an example to follow.  Show someone that you aren’t perfect either and they can be more open to the fact neither are they.  Show them that despite the entire log in your eye it can still be removed.  There is hope.  If a log can come out of your eye then how much easier a splinter from theirs?

I hear a lot about how the US is doomed because of its sin.  I hear about we the church being the one to blame for turning this nation away from God because we didn’t practice what we preached.  We didn’t have love and condemned the sinner.  Let us the church then repent and show the wicked how to do the same.  Let us show them that we are not afraid of sin in our lives because we know that we can be healed when we turn from our evil ways.  There is a God in heaven, who came to earth, who is greater than any sin or transgression and defeated it all!  We’re not afraid of losing creditability or of being mocked because we know what we need and it helps.  It restores us to right relationship to God.  Having right relationship with Him is about the individual.  It doesn’t come from the outside but from inside.  Good fruit comes from the inside.