It’s a beautiful thing to repent!

“It’s a beautiful thing to repent.”

I heard this quote by Francis Chan this week. 

You know I’ve always said I’m thankful social media was not a thing when I was a growing up, that not every stupid decision & bad choice I made was publicly available in an instant & recorded forever! 

You see during that time I was also walking out my new Christianity in a family full of new believers! I was young - most of them adults! My family was radically altered by an encounter with Jesus & filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

My home Immediately became different but you know what... it didn’t become perfect. I didn’t become perfect. 

Some of those stupid decisions & mistakes took place after I encountered Jesus - and you know what I still Loved Jesus! I still wanted to serve Him! 

I spent a lot of time at altars! A lot of time in Repentance! 

Remember the disciples... the ones who all abandoned Jesus in His greatest time of need - Peter who went back to cussing and fishing - they all really loved Him too & wanted to serve Him! 

They just didn’t know how to lay it all down yet!

It took time! It takes time! 

I’ve heard or seen 2 quotes lately 

“Oil is costly” and “Oil takes time.” 

To have the oil of Jesus will require sacrifice and a lot of repentance. 

The church has a habit of making altars one time events. 

Paul said “I die daily!” 

1 Corinthians 15:31 AMP

I assure you, believers, by the pride which I have in you in [your union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily [I face death and die to self].

We should ALL be living lifestyles of repentance. 

Repentance as a lifestyle brings an awareness and centrality of the cross and the resurrection of Christ to our daily lives. 

As people of God our hearts must be focused on Christ - not behaviors. 

He is our goal, our lives must be pushing us towards Him. 

Repentance is less about what we are turning away from and more about Who we are turning to. 

“True repentance is when you hold the Word of God in your heart until it changes your self-image, desires and choices.”

As believers in Jesus,  there should be marked improvement in our character & choices, of course, 

but let’s not throw the baby out with the dirty bath water as new Christians shed some habits & relearn some radically new ways of thinking! 

Discipleship is a process, the disciples had the perfect teacher and still didn’t get it all at once! 

May the church rise up with love, correction, Grace, mercy and patience! With ourselves and with each other! 

May we become quick repenters! 

May we learn to daily and even hourly, minute by minute refocus our hearts, our attention and our affections on Christ. 

This is why Repentance is a beautiful thing! Because it brings Jesus into focus! He’s always beautiful!

Matthew 3:8 “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Altars, repentance, death to self is the only path to that costly oil. It causes us to turn our new way of thinking into a new way of walking. 

The Altar is still a good place for us all!