The older I get, the more I am convinced that repentance has to be a daily practice if we are to stay faithful to The Way that Jesus lays out in the Bible. We are each just one choice away from letting our sinful nature rule our lives. It’s small compromises that pave the way to big falls away from God’s truth.
If we start paying attention, we can start to wonder if being a good and faithful servant is even possible. Headlines are filled with the moral failings of trusted Christian leaders. In our personal lives, we see loved ones ravaged by a spouse who fails to remain faithful, addictions that take over our ability to love others well, and pride that says we can make our own way without being accountable to our community. It can all feel so bleak. The Bible warns that the way is narrow and the path to destruction is wide and inviting (Matthew 7:13-14).
Then I see how sin grows and starts destroying my own life. My bitterness and unforgiveness almost swallow up all the love in my marriage. My anger flashes out of me in moments of stress and wounds my children. Anxiety picks away at my body, my rest, and my trust in God. My pride tells me I need to look a certain way or achieve a certain kind of life. The reality that I so eagerly want to overlook is that I am a broken and sinful creature. I must live daily in a posture of humble repentance, continuously seeking God for his wisdom and grace because, without him, I am lost.
What Is Repentance?
Acts 2:38 says, “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Repent is from the Greek word “metanoeo,” which means to completely change your paradigm. You admit your error and accept the truth. What a powerful word!
Isn’t it true that every single day, we need to admit that we need our paradigm shifted? We need the ability to set aside what seems right in our own eyes and seek to accept the truth. The beauty of all of this is that Peter explains that the product of repentance is forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance loosens the chains of the accuser who wants to shout we are guilty! God takes our shame and gives us forgiveness. He blots out our failures. Then, we feel the Holy Spirit rest on us. The Spirit is our helper, he’s our guide, our wisdom giver, and our advocate. It’s by the Spirit, not by our own strength, that we can live worthy of the calling God has given each of us (Zachariah 4:6).
Jesus Tells Us to Ask for Daily Forgiveness
We need this cycle of surrender, grace, and empowerment to happen every day. Sometimes, multiple times a day. Jesus points us to this pattern when he teaches us how to pray. Matthew 6:9-13 is known as the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a model from Jesus on how to pray.
According to this prayer, Christ followers are to pray for forgiveness and offer forgiveness to others daily. We are to ask God to keep us from temptation because he knows that the struggle is real. In this prayer, we learn that this is how we experience more of God’s kingdom here on Earth.
Our prayer life is the first step in living God’s way and not keeping after our misguided passions. We can assess where our heart is by evaluating what our communication with the Lord looks like. If we want to keep close to the truth, we must keep close to the Lord in prayer and intercession. Daily confession, which is the practical first step towards repentance, helps us in our quest to live a righteous life. Prayer centers us. It keeps the divine close and real and reminds us that there is more than what meets the eye happening in our world.
A Repentant Life Produces the Fruit of the Spirit
Sometimes we wonder, are we really changing? How do we know we have changed our way of seeking the world and now are living in the truth? Are the people we love sincere when they proclaim their own desire for change?
A litmus test we can rely on is to determine if we are letting truth guide us is if we see the fruits of the spirit growing out of our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” A heart that is changed, made new, a life that is guided by God’s Holy Spirit relentlessly exudes each of these qualities. We may not embody these things with perfection, but they mark so much of who you are that others take note. When they think of you, they think of goodness; they are impressed at your joy or patience. This is the light of Jesus shining from us!
This past year, my husband and I have had to faithfully go to the Lord and ask him to help us repent. Help us to change. We knew his best was for us to experience the fruits of the spirit in our marriage, but instead, we felt frustration, shame, guilt, anger, disunity, and despair. We have struggled for many years together, but it felt like we were at a tipping point. Things must change, or our time together was fated for separation.
The way I knew that God was answering our prayers, healing our hearts, and changing our patterns was that I began to feel peace and joy in my home again alongside my husband. Truthfully, in the years prior, I often dreaded, avoided, and struggled to be home with my husband. It seemed almost every interaction was filled with bitterness. I know God is working because now I am beginning to trust again that us together is something good. I am able to offer kindness, even when things don’t go quite right in our house. God’s people will be known by the fruit produced in their lives.
I think the way to one day meeting Jesus and hearing those coveted words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), is by embracing the daily practice of repentance. Faithfully ask God to forgive us. Embrace his gracious forgiveness and extend it freely to others. Rely the Holy Spirit and let him produce good fruit through your precious life.
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