In a lot of churches the word repentance is a bad word. They think of repentance as souly focusing on how terrible of a person you are and well, that's just not ok. But as I've been looking into it more and more repentance is nessicary for transformation. Jesus preached the love of God but he also preached on repentance. Everwhere he went he told people to turn from their sins. Why doesn't the church speak on this?
Coming from a Baptist background I know the kind of damage it can do to a person to tell them that God doesn't love u for what u do, but simply because He decided to love you. Or you can't do anything good or right, only God can. Its like telling someone they aren't worth anything, then expecting them to be happy about it. God doesn't want you sad, He doesn't want you to hurt. But that focus on repentance leads to a whole lot of hurt. There always needs to be balance. You should speak on repentance, you should help people to see that its by grace we have been saved. BUT don't neglect to tell people that God has formed us and created us for a time such as this. Remind people of Gods great love for them, help them to see their value in the kingdom of God.
Everyone has a purpose for which they were created, some people the foot or the arm of the body of Christ, some the heart some the hands, etc etc. When we see ourselves as worthless and useless we digress to just that. When we see ourselves as perfect and without sin, we become puffed up with pride. We need to be in balance. Accepting that we have sinned, and continue to do so, seeking forgiveness daily, then moving on (not dwelling on our sins because there is no condemnation in those who love Christ) we need to see that there is something for us, something uniquely ours that we can do best because it was a job ceated with us in mind. I'm saying this because people have been one or the other. And I crave that balance. I wish people when corrected would be corrected with love, not out of anger or jealousy, or pride. I wish I could see the church speaking on both love AND repentance.
But we as Christians ARE the church! So lets live in a way that is Holy and pleasing to God! Build eachother up, encourage eachother, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Remember also to repent when you recognize an area of sin in your life. Dont let that fester and grow, but dont beat yourself up. Just turn away from it. ( Yes easier said than done)
Gods grace is suffecient for us, lets grasp on to that grace and never let go!!
