What is true repentance?
What is your first thought when you hear the word repentance? It doesn’t always have a positive connotation, does it? Today we’re talking about what true repentance is.
But can’t you just hear an angry preacher shouting from the pulpit that you need to repent of your sins? Sometimes it seems like they’re trying to rub your nose in all the sins you’ve committed and make you feel really bad about yourself.
True repentance is…
But when Jesus said we need to repent, that’s not what he meant at all. True repentance is actually a wonderful spiritual process that helps you change your perspective and see yourself in a positive spiritual light.
Now, in these Freedom Friday episodes, I’ve talked a lot about repentance and taking an honest look at yourself in the mirror, admitting to yourself the mistakes you’ve made and the sins you’ve committed. But a lot of people misunderstand what true repentance is really all about. It’s not just realizing you sinned and admitting your mistakes.
It goes much deeper than that. The word for repentance in Greek in the New Testament is metanoia. It means to rethink, to think again, to think in a new way, to get a whole new perspective that you look at things from.
Going deeper
So let’s go a little deeper in this. It means to quit looking at things from a self-focused perspective, a material perspective of what’s going on in the world, but start looking at things from a God-focused view that looks at things from the perspective of what’s true in the kingdom of heaven.
Well, so why is this important? Because true repentance is learning to think about yourself in this new way, to see yourself from the spiritual perspective of what is already true about you in the kingdom of heaven right now as the image and likeness of God.
The more clearly you see yourself as God’s image and accept that as the ultimate fact of who you are, that will purify your motives and actions. And you won’t have an appetite for sin.
You won’t have the desire to sin, because you’ll feel in your heart that God is meeting all your needs and that sin can never really give you anything.
Ponder that for just a moment, that God is the only source of you really getting what you need. Nothing else can give you that sense of wholeness and completeness and having everything you need, all your needs met, that God can give you.
True repentance changes how you see things
Repentance is about getting a new way of thinking, not just about yourself, but about the kingdom of heaven as well.
Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You know, the funny thing is, we still think it’s way off in the future. We really don’t believe Jesus.
We think we get to heaven after we die. But Jesus basically says: “No, no, no, no. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” When you accept Jesus’s promise that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, you’ll be thinking in a completely new way.
That’s what repentance is all about. And you’ll begin to see more of heaven here on earth in your daily life.
And as I said, this is what real repentance is all about. It’s changing the way you see things.
Getting a more spiritual perspective
It’s getting a new spiritual perspective of what’s going on. It’s looking at things from the perspective of what’s true in the kingdom of heaven.
I encourage you to shift your perspective from whatever problems you’re facing from what’s happening here on earth. Quit looking at things from that perspective and instead look at things from the perspective of what’s going on in heaven right now, what’s true in heaven, which Jesus says, this kingdom of heaven is at hand. It’s here right now.
As always, I’m just sharing a few quick ideas to think about to get you thinking about true repentance on your own. So as you do this and as you shift your perspective to looking at things from what’s true in the kingdom of heaven, I would love to hear how this makes a difference in your life.
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Photo credit: Jeremy Bishop
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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