I'm sure we've all come to a place where we've messed up failed and gave in to sin and you hear this in Bible studies all the time repent turn from your sins and I'll tell you this right now there's a right way to repent and a wrong way biblically to repent means to have a change of mind or to have a reversal of one's decision so when the Bible tells us to repent it means that we as Sinners when we're heading down a road of sin to repent to have a change of mind to decide
to get off that road of sin and to turn to a life of godliness so while we're called to repent and change how do you do it here we have three tips that can help us to repent the right way and please note that you need all three to truly repent tip number one repentance should be a response to God's kindness Romans 2 4 or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance notice how this passage says that it's
God's kindness that leads to repentance and I think oftentimes when we fail our motive for repenting is because we feel bad for failing like we give in to sin we feel guilty and then we have this inner resolve to never do it again and repent and maybe we try for a time but then we fall back into it again like we give into sin we feel guilty and then we have this inner resolve to never do it again and repent and maybe we try for a time but then we fall back into it again and
the cycle repeats you see when we repent the focus should be on God and His kindness not on us don't speed past this thought God is kind we are sinners that deserve justice but God sent his son Jesus to pay our price and to die our death you know how in first John 4 8 it says God is love well one characteristic of Love Is that love is willing to become whatever the person needs if someone needs protection the person who loves them gives protection if someone needs a meal a hug or encouragement a loving
person would meet that need and because God is love he is willing to become whatever you need do you need wisdom James chapter 1 verse 5 tells us that he's willing to give you wisdom do you need peace Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 to 7 is God's road map to peace and what do you need the most salvation from hell and since consequences Romans chapter 8 verses 31 to 32 What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but
delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things so what more do you need when God gave us Jesus he gave us all he had you see when it comes to repentance you must start from the correct place and that place isn't I need to be better it should be a response to God's kindness and his love for us and I'll tell you how blessed are we have an all-powerful God that not only possesses all that we need but also has the unending kindness in his heart
to meet those needs tip number two repentance should have fruit Acts chapter 26 verse 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent turn to God and do Works befitting repentance notice how it says turn to God and do Works befitting repentance I think sometimes when we fail we do nothing to try and improve like we do something bad feel bad and maybe we think about what went wrong but nothing really changes in our habits or behavior you
know John the Baptist also commands Believers to Bear fruits worthy of repentance let me give you an illustration imagine a tree that's planted and let's say this tree represents your repentance from a sin question would there be any fruit on this tree that would indicate that you're serious about repenting for example let's say you look at something on your phone that you're not supposed to have you done anything to prevent that from happening again are you making it a point to identify triggers and minimize them are you creating healthy boundaries or did you confess your
sin to someone who can help you is there anything that would get God to think Hmm Yeah this person's getting serious or is your repentance all talk and feelings because it's not enough just to feel bad because that bad feeling will just fade and will fall right back into sin no if there's no fruit there's no repentance true repentance must incorporate actions that will draw us closer to God maybe you pray more or you read more or Fellowship it looks different for everyone but note there needs to be a battle plan when it comes to
sin don't do nothing tip number three repentance should be extreme Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 30 and if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off and cast it from you for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell now this passage shouldn't be taken literally when Jesus said this he meant that Extreme Measures should be taken to cut sin out of our life even if it causes extreme discomfort or inconvenience can you imagine cutting off your right hand not only
is it an extreme action it makes life incredibly inconvenient in the long run and this passage isn't the only time Jesus tells us to take Extreme Measures Luke chapter 9 verse 23 then Jesus said to them all if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me Jesus says here that following him should be like us crucifying ourselves every day some questions what measures are we taking to combat our lusts our anger greed gossip or sexual immoralities is there a level of discomfort in our sacrifice
or do we act casually and are actually okay with slipping up here and there in hopes that maybe one day we'll break our bad habit we should all be cautious should we ever reach a place of complacency and indifference to our sinful habits our repentance should consider passages that command us to cut off our hand to crucify ourselves and to die to ourselves so should the time come and you need to turn away from sin and turn back to God remember these three important tips on repentance tip number one repentance should be a response to
God's kindness tip number two repentance should have fruit and tip number three repentance should be extreme repentance is hard guys so keep at it and remember that repentance is good for us sin corrupts and destroys us and repentance takes steps to remove that which damages our life so should the time come when you need to repent from a sin start here and own the fact that God is kind and that Jesus loves you [Music]
