REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS

One of the greatest obstacles to receiving and living in God’s absolute forgiveness is that we have not truly repented.  We have not changed our mind and our heart’s attitude toward God, and we do not acknowledge that living in sinful ways is wrong. 

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.  There's no regret for that kind of sorrow.  But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT) 

When we struggled in the chaos of our addiction, we acknowledged that some of our actions were harmful.  However, we generally blamed the occurrence of negative events in our past to justify our ongoing selfish behaviour.  People who harmed us or our former life circumstances were to blame. We became greedy, self-indulgent and self-centered individuals and decided to shape our lives around what we thought we needed, deserved, or what we determined needed fixing.  The building block for living well in recovery with God is changing our mind about who is responsible for our brokenness and how we got to where we are. 

Our chance at having a real life comes when we humbly turn our will and life over to God’s care and accept the responsibility for our sinful responses.  We also need to admit that we messed things up for ourselves and others by trying to sort out past events on our own. 

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.  (Acts 3:19 NIV) 

When we begin the journey of our new life in Christ, there may be times when we fail to live in love.  Genuine sadness over our behaviour and a willingness to change our old ways and seek God for cleansing and healing is true repentance that honours God and restores our relationship with Him

Prayer: Gracious God, Forgive me for ignoring You and not taking responsibility for my past behaviour.  Cleanse and heal my heart and renew a right spirit within me. I desire to honour You in all my ways. I am grateful that You love and care for me.  Amen