I'm Sorry?

After I was turned around, I changed the way I thought and acted. After I was taught a lesson, I hung my head in shame. I was so ashamed and humiliated, because of all the stupid things I have done ever since I was young.
Jeremiah 31:19

Have any of you really disappointed someone? Have you ever done anything that made people change their opinion of you…for the worse? Maybe it involved getting caught going too far with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe it had to do with embarrassing files in your computer’s hard drive. Maybe it happened when you came home wasted after a party. The list is pretty endless.

And you probably know that if you have had any of these experiences or experiences like them, you also probably know what regret feels like.

You know what it’s like to try and go back and erase what you did.

To want to stop people from being disappointed in you.

Personally, I have been there.

And will probably be there again.

We seek forgiveness.

But too often, repentance gets overlooked in our communication with God.

Here’s what I am getting at. When we feel guilty about something we’ve done, the usual pattern is to offer up a quick prayer of apology, as God for forgiveness, and then get on with our lives. Maybe sometimes we will remind ourselves of a verse like 1 John 1:9 (If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong), just as a little bit of extra assurance. And in the process, we skip over repentance.

You see, sometimes it’s not enough simply to say, “I’m sorry” after letting others down…especially when that someone is God. Sometimes we need to give ourselves time to experience regret over our actions in order to fully appreciate God’s forgiveness. Trust me on this…

One of the best ways to generate true feelings of repentance is to spend some time thinking about what Jesus did on the cross.

Thinking about his love for you.

Thinking about who he is.

And the more we understand who it is we have sinned against, the more we will experience genuine, heart-felt repentance for our sins.

Ask God to show you who he is.

Ask him to help you repent.

That’s a prayer he will never refuse.

Have a great today…and if you don’t feel like doing anything today, try to remember to do one important thing- that is, love those in and around your life as Jesus loves you. No matter how bad you think you have disappointed the people in your life, Jesus loves you.