Repentance
is an act where we turn away from our sins to God. In repentance, however,
decision is offered to us when God reveals His truth; either we choose to
acknowledge the truth and repent from our sin or choose to not accept the truth
compromising our sin. In some religion nevertheless, repentance may be covered
up such that instead of changing our life and being responsible for our sin, we
could do something else for God that would please Him. This should not be the
right thing to do for us Christians since God wants us to acknowledge our sin
and take responsibility of it. After we decide to repent, we should take
actions to repent meaning that we turn 180 degrees from our sin to God; as a
result therefore, we will be able to receive God’s mercy and grace as a gift
from God.
The
problem in most Christians in the world today is that they don’t want to accept
the truth when God reveals it to them. Although most of the time they know
about the sin, they still compromise themselves with many variations of
reasons. Personally, I also have a problem in accepting some truths especially
with the reason that it is hard to follow or it is not so important. One of my
sins that I still compromise is allowing my friends to cheat from me. Though I
didn’t seem to purposefully give my answer to my friends, I allow them to cheat
by pretending that I don’t realize about it. In this case, I always think that
allowing my friends to cheat me was only a small sin and excused myself with a
reason that I’m helping my friends to get a good grade. With this I deceived
myself since I know that it will not bring benefit to them and will actually
help them to fail.
Following
the step of repentance, Christians should understand that they should
acknowledge the truth and be responsible for their sins in a matter of fact
that sin is something we should not compromise. James 4: 17 says that whoever
knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin; thus, when
we have known the truth and ignores it, the sin, no matter how small it seem,
will multiply and grow even worse that will someday lead is to our fall. Although
sometimes it is difficult for someone to repent from their sins, they should
keep on trying and asking God’s to help them. For me personally, I should
acknowledge that letting my friends cheat was not right since it will not help
them in life, but instead help them to fall into sin; moreover, though such sin
seems small to me, it is still considered a sin in God’s eye. I should not
compromise my sin therefore, realizing that it will grow inside me and will one
day cause me to fall. Luke 6: 10 says that one who is faithful in very little
is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also
dishonest in much. After I acknowledge the truth that giving cheats to my
friends is a sin, I should take action to repent by not giving my friends any
opportunity to cheat; furthermore, if I happen to realize them cheating, I
should not let them continue. Through my repentance, I know that God will show
His mercy and grace towards me, blessing me throughout my life.
As a
conclusion, when God calls us to repent, revealing His truth, we have a
decision either to not accept the truth and ignoring it or to acknowledge his
truth and take responsibility to our sin by repentance. If we have decided that
we want to repent from our sin, we should take the action of repentance by
fully turning away from our sins to God. With this, we will be able to receive
the mercy and the grace of God which will bless us throughout our life;
however, people in the modern world today, especially the Christians, does not
want to accept the truth that God have revealed to them and ignores it by
compromising themselves with reasons. In this case, they allow their sin to
grow in them that will cause them to fall. It is therefore important for us to
repent. John Bunyan, an English Minister and Author once said, “If you have
sinned, do not lie down without repentance; for the want of repentance after
one has sinned makes the heart yet harder and harder.”