I have to be honest. This is not one of those blog posts where you read the first few lines and then your curiosity is heightened to where you just have to read more. This is instead a blog post of a subject that has been steadily on my heart for the past few weeks, and I feel I must share. If it makes a difference to just one person, it's worth it.
If a survey were conducted in Christian circles as to what comes to mind when the word "repentance" is mentioned, what do you think would be the most common answer? I feel we tend to think of the unsaved accepting the saving grace of Jesus Christ by repenting of their sins. We might also think that it's a process that Christians who have "backslidden" come to when they rededicate their lives.
While those are certainly true, I think we miss so much by limiting repentance in that way. A lifestyle of repentance should be an active part of every Christian's daily life.
Let me explain.
I'm a perfectionist when it comes to some things, especially my Christian walk. I want to do everything right and leave no room for error. I recently realized that this attitude was a hindrance to my walk.
You see, in the past, whenever I realized I had sinned, my unconscious thought process went something like this, "That was wrong, I need to do better next time." Rarely did I find myself going to God and confessing, let alone repenting. Looking back on that, I was no better than a Pharisee, trying to earn the jewels on my crown by works. I kept washing the outside clean, but my inside wasn't cleansed.
Second Corinthians 7:9 says it perfectly: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."
So how do we live a life of repentance? Although I'm still learning this myself, I start with coming to God with the specific sin of which he has convicted me. I confess that this sin (an ungodly thought, a word, an action, a mindset) is a sin against God. Then I ask him to cleanse me of this sin and show me what the godly thought, word, action, or mindset should have been.
The amazing thing about repentance is that through it, God changes me. I'm no longer trying to live in my own strength but instead by the Spirit living in me.
Another benefit of a lifestyle of repentance is godly humility. If I am coming to God on a regular basis with how I have sinned against him, my mindset toward others changes. I don't pass judgement on them. Instead I see both of us as sinners in need of repentance. If I feel led to confront a brother or sister in Christ like Matthew 18 says ("If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over."), I can do it in love and grace.
Repentance. I believe it truly is the beginning of a Christian's life being transformed on a daily basis. And it yields eternal fruit, not only in our lives, but also in the lives of those around us.
Gifts
I am a huge fan of gift registries. Every time I hear of a wedding or a baby shower, I immediately ask, "Where are they registered?" If someone dares not register for their big event, I'm lost.
Along the same line, when I finally got that diamond on my left hand and that stick turned pink, I counted the days til I could register for my big event. Especially as a young bride, I couldn't wait to see who got what off my registry.
It was beyond my imagination that someone would choose not to buy off a registry. So for a wedding gift, when I received this 2-quart round casserole dish with a plastic cover, my first [incredibly spoiled brat selfish] thought was, "but didn't you see that I registered for a different casserole dish?"
The same thing happened 5 years later when I was expecting Drew. Though a little more mature and appreciative of each gift chosen for me, I was simply perplexed when I opened the gift and discovered UNSCENTED Huggies baby wash and lotion. Are you kidding? I wanted my baby smelling so good that people would want to hold him just to smell him. What in the world was I going to do with UNSCENTED baby wash and lotion? (Eventually, having never opened neither, I ended up giving the baby wash to Matt when he ran out of shampoo for the dogs.)
The lotion was a different story, much like the casserole dish. The casserole dish ended up being an item I have used consistently for 8 years. Long after the glasses on my registry had broken, the color schemes in my bathrooms have changed, and the theme in my kitchen had switched, my trusty casserole dish has been true to me the whole time.
And the lotion turned out to be a life-saver. When Drew was a young toddler, he started itching from eczema, especially at night. I tried the lotions Drew's pediatrician recommended, but they didn't take care of the problem. Oatmeal baths seemed to help a little but still didn't get him through the night. Finally, in my desperation, I turned to the UNSCENTED Huggies lotion, and voila, Drew could sleep the entire night without itching. All thanks to someone who chose not to check my registry.
Aren't we like that with God sometimes? We think we know exactly what we need, so we give him our requests. Then we're disappointed, and sometimes angry, when he doesn't go right by our list.
What we don't realize, sometimes til much later and maybe sometimes never, is that God always has a reason for everything he does...or chooses not to do.
In June 2005 I asked God to allow me to conceive a child. He didn't answer my prayer until December of that year because he used that time to show me how to pray for my Drew, even before he was conceived.
I asked God to grant my dreams of a powerful women's ministry, but instead he gave me a small mom's group in my church, because he knew I would implode under the pressure of a large ministry, and I had - and still have - a lot of maturing to do.
I asked God to give me the friendship I wanted with someone, but instead he chose to point out several flaws in myself that wouldn't have been revealed in one of my friendships that just "clicked." He taught me that if I work hard at relationships that aren't so "easy," he can create a love that I could have never imagined and that above all, glorifies him.
"Every good and perfect gift comes from above" (James 1:17). God will not deny us our requests unless there is a greater purpose - a purpose to glorify him and a purpose that is better for us. And truly, those two purposes are one in the same for a child of God.
So, every time I use my casserole dish or smooth the unscented lotion on Drew's skin, I am reminded that God doesn't always give me everything that I ask. Like any good Father, he wants us to come to him with our requests, but we must trust that if he is silent on a request, he has a greater plan.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Along the same line, when I finally got that diamond on my left hand and that stick turned pink, I counted the days til I could register for my big event. Especially as a young bride, I couldn't wait to see who got what off my registry.
It was beyond my imagination that someone would choose not to buy off a registry. So for a wedding gift, when I received this 2-quart round casserole dish with a plastic cover, my first [incredibly spoiled brat selfish] thought was, "but didn't you see that I registered for a different casserole dish?"
The same thing happened 5 years later when I was expecting Drew. Though a little more mature and appreciative of each gift chosen for me, I was simply perplexed when I opened the gift and discovered UNSCENTED Huggies baby wash and lotion. Are you kidding? I wanted my baby smelling so good that people would want to hold him just to smell him. What in the world was I going to do with UNSCENTED baby wash and lotion? (Eventually, having never opened neither, I ended up giving the baby wash to Matt when he ran out of shampoo for the dogs.)
The lotion was a different story, much like the casserole dish. The casserole dish ended up being an item I have used consistently for 8 years. Long after the glasses on my registry had broken, the color schemes in my bathrooms have changed, and the theme in my kitchen had switched, my trusty casserole dish has been true to me the whole time.
And the lotion turned out to be a life-saver. When Drew was a young toddler, he started itching from eczema, especially at night. I tried the lotions Drew's pediatrician recommended, but they didn't take care of the problem. Oatmeal baths seemed to help a little but still didn't get him through the night. Finally, in my desperation, I turned to the UNSCENTED Huggies lotion, and voila, Drew could sleep the entire night without itching. All thanks to someone who chose not to check my registry.
Aren't we like that with God sometimes? We think we know exactly what we need, so we give him our requests. Then we're disappointed, and sometimes angry, when he doesn't go right by our list.
What we don't realize, sometimes til much later and maybe sometimes never, is that God always has a reason for everything he does...or chooses not to do.
In June 2005 I asked God to allow me to conceive a child. He didn't answer my prayer until December of that year because he used that time to show me how to pray for my Drew, even before he was conceived.
I asked God to grant my dreams of a powerful women's ministry, but instead he gave me a small mom's group in my church, because he knew I would implode under the pressure of a large ministry, and I had - and still have - a lot of maturing to do.
I asked God to give me the friendship I wanted with someone, but instead he chose to point out several flaws in myself that wouldn't have been revealed in one of my friendships that just "clicked." He taught me that if I work hard at relationships that aren't so "easy," he can create a love that I could have never imagined and that above all, glorifies him.
"Every good and perfect gift comes from above" (James 1:17). God will not deny us our requests unless there is a greater purpose - a purpose to glorify him and a purpose that is better for us. And truly, those two purposes are one in the same for a child of God.
So, every time I use my casserole dish or smooth the unscented lotion on Drew's skin, I am reminded that God doesn't always give me everything that I ask. Like any good Father, he wants us to come to him with our requests, but we must trust that if he is silent on a request, he has a greater plan.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
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