Now What? Daily Repentance

Now What?

Daily Repentance-Right Feeling

2 Corinthians 7:9-11

Question: Have you ever felt like you knew something was right?

Intro: One of the best feelings in sports is when you hit a baseball right in the perfect spot of the bat, especially a wood bat. It is almost as if you did not hit anything at all. The ball explodes off the bat and there is no negative feedback from the ball making contact with the bat. It flies off the bat and many times this is the no doubt home run that a hitter hits in the game. As a hitter you know you performed everything exactly right. To be honest, it is hard to explain this moment to someone that is a non-baseball player. 

Spiritually, the feeling that one has when they come to the realization that God is real and that Jesus is His son is freeing. When an individual steps into this realm of humility and forgiveness, the weight is removed. However, this is something each believer must decide to do as an active step in pursuit of a lifestyle of repentance. Jesus told the disciples that if they desired to be His followers that each of them must deny themselves, pick up their own cross, and live like him, daily. (Luke 9:23)

2 Corinthians 7:9-11: 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

Sorrow

Sorrow is deep sadness that many times cannot be explained in words. It is this emotional weight that bogs us down to a point that can hinder our ability to move forward and function properly. However, here is the thing about sorrow. Sorrow can actually have an effect on us that can lead to positive change. If you are mourning the loss of someone close to you, that change can mean learning to live without that person in your life. But the sorrow that is discussed here by Paul is meant to express a desire to change something negative in us to something new and promising.

Without remorse, there is no self-recognition that something must be changed within us. Paul writes to the Corinthians here that he rejoices in the fact that they feel sorry for their actions. He is not doing this because he finds it comical, but he is recognizing that they are self-aware in that they must make some changes to reach the standards established by God through the blood of Christ. This is the recognition that they are developing a deeper connection with God as they are becoming more in tune with their actions that are not pleasing to God.

What we should see is a correction of course to continue the pursuit of the path that leads to God’s righteousness. When you feel sorrow for your sins, it is evident that you recognize that God is convicting you to redirect your own desires and actions. It is important that we see this as a need to lean on salvation through Christ and find our worth in what God says about us. This is not meant to be viewed as condemnation, but a renewal of body, mind, and spirit.

As we live in Godly sorrow, it is not about self-defamation, but self-denial and living through the anointing of the blood of Christ. Furthermore, we take daily action to live our lives under the covering of the blood of Christ. Sorrow of this magnitude is realizing that we must make a daily commitment to live in the salvation of Christ.

Serious

If you know me, you will know that I am a very serious person and would never hide behind sarcasm. Okay, if you really know me, you would know that my sarcasm typically is so strong that people sometimes cannot tell whether I am being serious or not. I really enjoy taking advantage of gullible people. (FYI, gullible is not in the dictionary). 

Now, something to know about Paul is that he was someone that wrote with a little bit of sarcasm in his letters. This is not one of those times. Paul is genuinely encouraging the readers for their willingness to become serious about their relationship with God. He sees that they have taken measures to live a life of cleanliness and righteousness before God. They have committed to God’s standards.

As for us it means we must develop a willingness to live our lives wanting what God wants. In this verse, Paul celebrates the Corinthians because of their seriousness to make things right with God. They do not waver away from what God wants for them, but they press on in their faith. Paul’s statement here is to commend them for their faith and actions to pursue a better walk with God. Likewise, we must develop this same sort of zeal to commit to the same daily standard.

When you become serious about your relationship with God, you begin to push and work to find yourself approved in God’s eyes. Part of daily repentance is working beyond the sin of your past and your present to pursue God’s love. It always requires an assertive effort to be honest with your own struggles and your strengths. God does not expect you to be perfect, but he desires obedience, effort, and tenacity in your pursuit of His love and righteousness. Once forgiven, God expects you to take this new life seriously. He expects daily repentance and renewal of your own life.

The point of this new series is to create a practical design to help you to continue to push deeper and further in your relationship with God through the blood of Christ. These should be simple ways to increase your desire to live a life as a believer in Christ. 

Disclaimer: In the coming weeks, each one of these five practices were developed by Ythology founder Jeff Grenell from Minneapolis, MN. I developed my own devotional content tied to his five practical actions of faith that all believers should commit to in their individual walks with Christ.