I’ve always read the scripture, “Cry repentance unto this people” like I should be going out and telling people what they are doing wrong and they should stop. That’s not going to happen.

But I’ve been studying repentance a bit more recently, and had a few experiences. One, I did something a bit stupid and realized that instead of sitting around feeling horrible about it, I should pray about it and confess my sin and ask for forgiveness and help to change. I immediately felt better.

Joe and I were reading a book and it contained an article about how it shouldn’t be “I can’t do this” to “I won’t do this.” Because Christ has promised that with him, we can do all things. I started to really think about those things that I want to change, but it just doesn’t happen. A lot of this is really, I won’t change, because if I do try, and more importantly, rely on Christ for help, I really can do all things.

Going back to crying repentance. It’s not about telling others what is wrong in their lives. It’s about telling them about the power of Christ. All those little or big things that we just can’t change by ourselves and cause us grief can be taken away by Christ. Through repentance we can become everything we want to be, everything God wants us to be.