Today, I had to repent.
I had to repent for being more committed to client outcomes than the Kingdom outcomes assigned over my life.
I had to repent for not believing enough, for allowing doubt to creep into my dreams. I had to repent for professing God’s Word over my life and not acting out the promises of God to see them come to life. I had to repent because I was disobedient.
Repentance is a daily cleansing. It is the mental, emotional and behavioral commitment to clear out sin, distractions, old stories, doubts, disappointments and the spirit of heaviness and embrace a new way. This is not just a one-time act, but repentance should happen as regularly as taking a shower or looking in the mirror.
When you look in the mirror, you are able to see yourself clearly. You can see how your hair is styled, how your clothes fit on your body, you can see your facial expressions and body language.
The mirror is a game-changer.
It is the definitive truth of who we are and how we are, at any given space and time. The Truth is a mirror. I say all the time, once you know a house is burning down, you can’t go back to what you were doing – you have to get out of the house. Once you develop an awareness of the truth, once you see that you are dealing with a lustful spirit or a prideful way, you have a choice to make.
You can either go back to the way you were doing things -making excuses and building strongholds of reasoning, logic and bottom line – LIES – around your sin OR you can repent and change.
I recently read an article by John Piper, called “How to Repent”. The framework for repentance that he shares in this article is so powerful. We must identify the wrongs in our lives before we can change them. We must begin to see them clearly for their destructive impact in our lives. I’ve also learned some things about repentance in my walk with Jesus Christ over the years that I’ll share with you here:
- Call a spade a spade.
In order to move forward, you must recognize why you were wrong. Acknowledge all the ways your decisions may have hurt God or others in your life. By ignoring the impact of your wrongdoing, you only increase and expand the pain you’ve caused.
- Go to God.
Not only does God know what you did wrong, but He understands WHY you did wrong. We are all subject to something called the “sin nature”. There are spiritual influences of darkness at play, waging war against our soul. Whether you grew up in an environment where you were abused or mishandled, or you knew what was right and still chose to go the other way – there is a part of our soul that can only be healed, restored and freed by the presence of God in our lives.
Many times, we seek pleasure or power in the temporary satisfactions of this world – when what we truly desire at a soul level – is God’s presence in our lives. Why do you think God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins?
Jesus came because we were powerless against our sin nature. There’s something in each and everyone of our DNA that tells us to do wrong. It leads us to the counterfeit. It leads us to the bait that has only been sent as a trap to kill us and destroy our soul. Our very nature compels us to behave as puppets to sexual perversion, blinding pride, stagnating fear, manipulative abuse and all kinds of pleasures designed to entrap your mind, will and emotions in this world’s system.
When we repent, we admit to God that we are powerless and we commit to going in a new direction – His way.
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6
- Reconcile with those you’ve offended.
Go to your brother, go to your sister and acknowledge what you’ve done. If the other person isn’t the type of person to have an open conversation with you, first, repent to God and ask for wisdom to approach the person you’ve done wrong. Ask God for an opportunity for reconciliation.
Repentance Challenge
Write a list of things that you’ve done wrong. Pray and ask God to bring your sins back to your remembrance – whether it was one hour ago or one decade ago.
- Who have you wronged?
- What wrong thoughts have you thought?
- Who have you accused or gossiped about?
- Who have you judged unrighteously?
- Who have you thought wrongly about?
- Have you done anything prideful with selfish motives instead of a motive of love?
- Do you have any repeated behaviors in your life that are a result of lust of the eye or lust of the flesh?
- Do you see any repeated cycles in your family or in your bloodline that you are beginning to perpetuate?
Ask God to reveal these generational curses to you and to break these cycles and remove them from your life. Ask God to help you search your heart so that you can get back in right standing with God.
All things are possible when you believe. We serve a God that stands ready to LOVE on you. He wants to heal you, set you free, and lead you to the life that you’ve always desired deep down in your heart. Are you ready to go on a new journey with your Heavenly Father?