A Heart Of Repentance
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:8-9
As we talked about last week, there are many ways you can sense the Holy Spirit as a follower of Jesus. One of those ways is when you are convicted of your sins.
The moment you gave your life to Christ, He forgave all of your past sins, all of your present sins, and all of your future sins. Your Heavenly Father looks at you as totally acceptable and completely loved because Jesus died for your sins. Once you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, you can never lose that relationship with Him. But what you can lose is your sense of fellowship with Him.
Every single person on this planet is a sinner. We all mess up. We all make mistakes. But what makes us different as followers of Jesus is that we have the Holy Spirit to convict us when we make these mistakes. He convicts so that we might acknowledge and confess that sin and turn from it.
God does not expect you to be perfect. He doesn’t have you under a microscope, waiting for you to trip up. And He’s not looking for you to beat yourself when you do something wrong. What He is looking for is a teachable and repentant heart. Paul talks about the importance of repentance is his letter to the church of Corinth when he says, “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).
That heart of repentance is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit living in you. When you make a mistake, when you do something to hurt someone else, when you do something you shouldn’t when no one else is around, He is the one who will prick your heart. He is the one who will prompt you to ask for forgiveness and turn from your sin. And He is the one who will lead you in the right direction towards God’s will for your life. My prayer is that you are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life and that you will ask God to give you a teachable and repentant heart as you learn from your mistakes.
As we talked about last week, there are many ways you can sense the Holy Spirit as a follower of Jesus. One of those ways is when you are convicted of your sins.
The moment you gave your life to Christ, He forgave all of your past sins, all of your present sins, and all of your future sins. Your Heavenly Father looks at you as totally acceptable and completely loved because Jesus died for your sins. Once you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, you can never lose that relationship with Him. But what you can lose is your sense of fellowship with Him.
Every single person on this planet is a sinner. We all mess up. We all make mistakes. But what makes us different as followers of Jesus is that we have the Holy Spirit to convict us when we make these mistakes. He convicts so that we might acknowledge and confess that sin and turn from it.
God does not expect you to be perfect. He doesn’t have you under a microscope, waiting for you to trip up. And He’s not looking for you to beat yourself when you do something wrong. What He is looking for is a teachable and repentant heart. Paul talks about the importance of repentance is his letter to the church of Corinth when he says, “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).
That heart of repentance is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit living in you. When you make a mistake, when you do something to hurt someone else, when you do something you shouldn’t when no one else is around, He is the one who will prick your heart. He is the one who will prompt you to ask for forgiveness and turn from your sin. And He is the one who will lead you in the right direction towards God’s will for your life. My prayer is that you are sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life and that you will ask God to give you a teachable and repentant heart as you learn from your mistakes.
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2 Comments
May I always be sensitive to the leading and promoting of the Holy Spirit
AMEN!!!