2 Corinthians 7:9-10, “yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account. For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death.” (AMP).
This is going back quite a few years, but when my daughters were little, I displayed most of their artwork on the refrigerator door. I was usually proud of their creative efforts…usually…that is. However, there was this time in which I was attempting to paint the wood borders of my bedroom, but I had to stop briefly to answer the phone in the living-room. I gave my baby girl one instruction, “Do not touch the paint!” You want to guess what happened? When I returned from my call, little “Miss Rembrandt” was working on a toddler’s masterpiece. Unfortunately, she had chosen my wall for her canvas! There on my bedroom wall were “designs” done with the paint that was intended only for the borders.
Now, believe it or not, I didn’t spank her. Although I was ready to let her have it! As a matter of fact, I didn’t even yell. No, this was one of the many times in which I decided to make my daughter my student and turn her mistake into the day’s lesson. And how did I do that? Simple. I just went and got a bucket of soap and water and a rag and gave my daughter a new instruction, “Clean it up.” Well, my little girl scrubbed and scrubbed, mostly to no avail. But she learned something important that day. We’re responsible for the messes we make. In essence, if you broke it, fix it, if you messed it up, clean it up!
Which leads to our lesson of the day in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. It’s really about how to clean up the messes we’ve made. It involves that renewing, transforming process the Bible calls Repentance. You might say, “Oh, you mean feeling bad about what I did?” Well, not exactly.
The word “repentance” is defined as “deep sorrow, compunction (‘a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows wrongdoing’. Its Latin origin ‘compungere’ literally means ‘to prick sharply’), or contrition (‘feeling or expressing remorse’) for a past sin, wrongdoing; to regret.” However, biblical repentance by definition is a bit more detailed. I love one of its translations “metanoeo” which means “to change one’s mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge.” Its verb is used to denote “a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.” But many of us prefer the translation “metamelomai” which is used of a change of mind, regret or remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart.” (Example: Judas – Matthew 27:3, “When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. Saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They replied, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And throwing the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he left; and went away and hanged himself” AMP). He may have changed his mind, but taking his life didn’t change what was already in his heart. “Metanoeo” is to change mind, purpose, and life, not take it away. It is to deliberately accept your wrong, admit it and change it for the better. It’s more than saying “I’m sorry”, it’s a complete change of mind, purpose, heart, and life! Don’t take repentance lightly!
Look at verse 9 it says, “Your sorrow led you to repentance.” Feeling sorry is a good start on repentance, but it’s sure not the whole story. Verse 10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. See what this godly sorrow is producing in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” You see, these people understood repentance. It’s not just a forgiveness-fix for your guilty feelings. It’s an all-out campaign to fix what your sin messed up. It’s the kind of cleanup that “leaves no regret.” Repentance doesn’t just bring it to an end, but it turns it all the way around. I love the quote “a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to turn.” Repentance is more than bowing your head in sorrow and feeling sorry, but in the definition of the Naves Dictionary, it is “to make a complete reversal of ones attitude and values; a complete turning back toward God.” It’s not enough to say I broke it, repentance also fixes it. Repentance sees the bend in the road that leads back to rightness with God and takes it!
Now, my daughter was quick to say she was sorry for what she had done that day, and she was forgiven. But she had to step up to the responsibility for the marks she had made. She had to do what she could to remove those marks. Well, so do you and I with some of the sinful mistakes of our past. It’s so unfortunate today that the church uses and misuses grace, mercy and forgiveness. It is not a band aide you slap over a deep gash! You don’t say “I’m sorry, God forgive me, I’m forgiven, now let’s start over…but this time not get caught”. No, repentance changes you from the inside out. Why are we under the impression that we can do wrong, and God makes it right, only so we can do wrong again…just in a better way?! No! We have a part to play! Listen to Matthew 6, “In prayer there is a CONNECTION between what GOD DOES and WHAT YOU DO. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do YOUR PART, you cut yourself off from GOD’S PART.” (14-15 MSG). Despite what today’s church makes it sound like, all the work doesn’t fall on God’s shoulders. There is a “connection”, there’s “His part and our part”. So just as in forgiveness you have to do your part and God does His, so in repentance you do your part and God does His. He forgives, renews and restores us. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do on our part. Yes, my daughter said sorry, but she also had to get a rag, some soap, a bucket and water and get to cleaning up the mess she made. Why? Because she made it and it was her responsibility to clean it up. Likewise, God didn’t make your mess, you did, so stop expecting Him to clean up what is your responsibility!
For instance, if you’ve wronged anyone, would you obey the Spirit’s prompting to go back and make it right? If you took something, would you repay what you took? If you helped someone else sin by what you did, would you go back and tell them you’re sorry? Even if they don’t realize it was wrong, will you make right what your lying or your gossip or your anger did to someone?
When you make every effort to fix what your sin may have damaged, you complete the spiritual circle of repentance, restoration and healing. Now, this will require a special grace and a special courage from the Lord. But if He’s telling you to do this, He will give you everything you need to obey Him. The Lord who has forgiven that sin may now be pointing to a mess we made and lovingly saying, “Clean it up.“
By making things right you can really close a chapter. You can actually say a firm goodbye to the sin of the past, and maybe really feel that great forgiveness that Jesus has already given you.
Today is a good day to get clean! Today is a good day to be made whole! You’ve walked around fractured and fragmented long enough, and so have the people you’ve hurt along the way. Take time today to self-exam and see the people in which you’ve damaged and ask God for the tools to help you make repairs. Too often families are destroyed, friendships are lost, opportunities are never recovered, churches are split and lives are severely injured, all because we don’t do our part. Maturity means I know I can go to God and repent and be forgiven and restored. But maturity in its fullness also means going to the person I hurt, acknowledging the pain I caused, admitting my wrong, humbly asking for their forgiveness, and changing ME so that I never cause this or any other like injury to them or anyone else again.
If a toddler can get some water, soap and a rag and make a sincere effort to clean up what she messed up, what do you think God expects of us as adults? Just a small effort may mend the marriage, restore the friendship, bring unity back to the church, and peace to your own mind. Take responsibility and own up to your own accountability and bring forth fruits of repentance, you never know the tremendous harvest that you’ll gather from sowing such seeds.
2 Corinthians 7:8-10, “I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.” (MSG)
And maybe that’s where you are right now. You’re misunderstanding all the distress in your life because you keep ascribing it all to the Devil, but what if it’s God?! Remember what the Word of God said, “Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation.” And there is no way in the world that Satan wants to send us a distress that would cause us to turn from Sin and back to Salvation! Maybe that pain, that struggle, that hurt, that betrayal, that lay off, that abandonment and rejection were all tools God allowed to distress you enough that it sent you running back to the God that sin had you running from! Perspective is always key! And distress is not always the devil! Genesis 50:20, “Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people…” (MSG) Yes, God can still use evil and turn it around for your good! Distress doesn’t always come to hurt you, sometimes it comes to help you! Just look at Joseph’s brothers, their evil plans not only worked for Joseph’s good, but life for many people! And your distress will work for you the same way! You see when you allow that distress to drive you back to God and salvation, and you remedy the friendships and relationships you damaged, it gives life for many people! So many people are holding on to what you said and what you did that they’re still burdened over it even after all this time. But when you make wrongs right, you’ll be amazed how much lighter a person’s load becomes, for both you and them! And isn’t that what you want? To repent, release and return back to God?! Then do so, Today! You can make good come out of bad, remember, you serve a God who makes results like that happen everyday!
Romans 8:26-28, “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (MSG)
God is still working on every detail in your life, the bad and the good! Now it’s time you also put your hands to work on turning that bad into something good! As long as you’re still alive and breathing you have the opportunity to make amends, so make them! Repent and Make the Turn That Will Turn Your Life Completely Around and Get You Back On the Narrow Road to Righteousness (after all, you’ve been on the wide road that leads to destruction long enough)!
No matter the wrong, today, make it right. Be the bigger and more mature person. No grudges, no bitterness, no regrets, no hate, no unforgiveness, no resentment. It’s time to become better! And better starts with you! So no more blaming, no more pointing fingers, no more excuses, no more accusing! Today, take personal accountability for your life and get it back on the right track. Remember, in the end, God will not call others in for a reckoning of your life, He’s only going to call you. Make sure you have something good to answer Him when He does call!
Today, let repentance be the tool you use to repair your life, integrity, character, relationships, etc. Use this tool to build your life into the blueprint God has already shown you in His Word!
Church, the trumpet hasn’t sounded yet, so whoever you need to get it right with, including God, get it right! Today! Repentance Leads to Sweet Relief and Release!
“Never Ruin an Apology With an Excuse.” (Kimberly Johnson)
“Apologizing does not always mean that you’re wrong and the other person is right. It just means that you value your relationship more than your ego.” (Author Unknown)
“Sorry is not enough, sometimes you actually have to change.” (Author Unknown)
“Repentance is like antiseptic. You pour antiseptic onto a wound and, at first it stings. Then it heals.” (Timothy Keller)
“Repentance may be old-fashioned, but it is not outdated so long as there is sin.” (J.C. Macaulay)
“It’s bad when you fail morally. It’s worse when you don’t repent.” (Luis Palau)
“God has a pencil with an eraser on it and He has promised us that He will use it if we will repent and change our ways. He has said that if we would forsake our evil and thoroughly make up our minds against it, then He would wash it out of His mind and just forget the whole thing. Of course, He expects that we will wash it out of our minds also.” (Sterling W. Sill)
“True repentance hates the sin, and not merely the penalty; and it hates the sin most of all because it has discovered and felt God’s love.” (W.M. Taylor)
“Genuine repentance must bear the seal of a corrected life.” (Lewis F. Korns)
“There is no repentance in the grave.” (JC Ryle)
“Repentance is the act of exchanging the lie that holds us captive for the truth that sets us free.” (Lisa Bevere)
“The most beautiful blessing we have been given is the chance to repent.”
“There is no eraser for your mistakes, but there is repentance.”
“Repentance is a process and not something that happens at one particular moment. It requires consistency.” (Francisco J. Vinas)
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].” (James 5:16 AMP);
“Pay attention and always be on guard [looking out for one another]! If your brother sins and disregards God’s precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3 AMP)
Romans 12:1-2, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (MSG)
Much Love, Dr. Shermaine #EnjoyTheRead #BeInspired #BeEncouraged #BeEmpowered #BeChallenged #BeDelivered
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