We all have things in our lives that we know were wrong. Often God shows us the sin in our lives so that we are reminded of our need for Him. In those moments He may be asking us to repent or turn away from sin. But turning away from or giving up one specific sin is not a substitute for having total forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. If your not sure you are truly a Christian, stop and get that settled before going forward.
I’ve messed up, now what…
Jesus never said that just because you are a Christian that life would be easy. Sometimes we mess up and that’s why God gives us repentance.
“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.” 2 Corinthians 7:9-11
There are 3 steps to Biblical repentance:
- Grief over sin
The Bible calls this “Godly grief.” It’s not feeling bad that we have been caught or that someone might find out, but truly being grieved over our sin because it offends God. This type of grief “produces a repentance” (verse 9).
- Restitution
When real repentance is happening in your life there is a desire to fix the damage done from sin. See what verse 11 says, “what eagerness to clear yourselves.” No matter what you’ve done you can experience God’s grace and forgiveness, But you won’t be right with God if you don’t want to be right with people you have hurt or injured.
- Revival towards God
When we repent there is a renewing of our joy in the Lord. Verse 11 says that once they had repentened the people had, “fear.” Before they didn’t care what God thought of their sin, but now they have changed.
Moving forward:
Here’s the last part – moving forward. Looking back and wishing you could change something – that’s normal. But it is also a symptom that you have not truly repented. True godly repentance always leads to a new joy in your relationship with God and that
means we can move forward without looking back. Verse 10 says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.