SIMPLE THOUGHTS ON REPENTENCE

Growing up, I always had it in my head that to repent of my sin, I had to sit down, tell God I was sorry and pray for Him to forgive me and not do it again. There is huge merit in this, and I am attempting to teach my own children to do this. What I didn't also realize is that there are some things I have repented of, but never really put a whole lot of mental effort to, except that I knew it was something I shouldn't do anymore. Let me explain. To repent means to turn the other way -- 180 degrees. Frequently in the gospels, Jesus tells people to "Go and sin no more." He is telling them to repent. He doesn't say, go and pray about your sin and then stop sinning. In a nutshell, that's what repentence is -- going and sinning no more! Sometimes I believe that may mean spending time weeping before the Lord over it, and other times, just to stop doing it. Either way, the 180 degree turn is the repentence, not the prayer. So many times, a person will say they are sorry, cry to God for forgiveness, and then two days later, be back in the same sin. They never repented. True repentence means to turn and not go back. No, we will not be perfect, and we may slip, but we will be moving in the direction of becoming more Christ-like and making huge strides in that direction.