Repentance | Change Your Mind, Change Your Life
People generally aren't crazy about change - are you? It's easy to settle for normal. But if you look to Jesus to lead, you can expect uncommon change because he is an uncommon leader. The kind of life Jesus invites you into is one of flourishing where you once faltered. And what's more, when things change within you, things around you have the chance to change!
Acts 2:36-38 says, "So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!" Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2 shows that repentance comes after a revealing. Where are you being revealed? Here are some places that are ripe for repentance:
Pain - Where are you experiencing pain?
Fatigue - Where are you experiencing weariness and burden?
Confusion - Where are you experiencing a gap in your understanding?
Reflecting on the questions above, where in your life are you not happy with what is growing? Maybe it's time to plant something else. Why settle for the best that man has to offer when God offers you his best?
Invite God to regularly change the way you think, embrace his revealing in you and respond to his perspective, and invite people to walk alongside you in support and partnership as God changes your life from faltering to flourishing.
What begins in a changed mind must find its way into your behavior. Repentance ends in a changed direction. Sarah Bessey says, "Repentance is an invitation to a beautiful, life-giving, reorientation towards God's good path of flourishing with ourselves, our neighbors, and our world."
Followers of Jesus live lives that are marked by transformation and ongoing repentance - learning and turning over and over because Jesus is always inviting people to more and more. Jesus wants to bring change to and through your life!