Have you ever thought that repentance and joy could go together? We tend to think of repentance and sorrow together, but true repentance leads to life and joy.
Not repenting will lead to sorrow, because the more we give in to sin, the more we become enslaved by it. Non-repentance leads to a belief in a small God, because we give ourselves fewer opportunities to see how far reaching and how unlimited His grace and love are. It's ironic that in seeking to avoid the pain of facing our sin head on, we will cause ourselves a deeper and more lasting pain.
This week, have you been made aware of any sins in your life that you had been trying to hide from? If dealing with that sin meant that you had to confess to someone else, did you do it? Don't you feel more free? If it was a sin that was really only between you and God, when you finally acknowledged it, what did you sense from God - mercy or judgment?
Do you try to hide your imperfections from others? Are you afraid of letting other people really know you? Do you feel that you've got sins in your life which, if revealed to others, would cause those people not to love you? What if you revealed those things and found that those people kept on loving you?
Do you feel that you've done things that would make you undeserving of feeling joy again? Are there past sins in your life that you haven't forgiven yourself for, haven't let go of, haven't stopped beating yourself up about? Read Galatians 5 and listen to what it says about freedom and joy (and peace, among other things). Pay special attention to verse 1 - the context of this passage is slightly different than the context of this devotional, but I believe it applies here as well. Christ has set you free.
Posted on
Thu, February 7, 2008
by Chris Branscome