Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - What is True Repentance?

My wife and I traveled to a Minnesota Twins baseball game in Minneapolis one summer. After the game, we left the stadium and made our way home. Except there was only one problem...a very significant problem. The road I had chosen to get us out of the city was a one-way street, and I was going the wrong way. Thankfully we did not meet oncoming traffic before I was able to get us turned around and headed back in the right direction.

I could have chosen to drive better in Minneapolis that night, but driving better wasn't what we needed. What was needed was a total change in direction. Repentance means to have a total change of mind - a change in the direction we are living. It is more than a mental ascent to do better.

The first message Jesus preached on earth was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17 ). It goes without saying that repentance is a very important part of following Jesus. Repentance is necessary to begin a relationship with Him. It is also a necessary process that will keep us close to the heart of God throughout the rest of our life.

Repentance means giving up something that is offensive to God in order to live a more godly life. Here is a verse that describes what repentance looked like in one of the early churches. They "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (Colossians 1:9 ). So repentance includes turning from something ungodly and turning to God's best.

Repentance also includes making wrongs right when necessary. In Luke 19:8 we see the story of a man named Zacchaeus, who experienced true repentance and chose immediately to make things right with the people he had wronged. "But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'"

As mentioned, repentance is also a life-long process. It has been said that the closer you get to the light, the more the dirt shows. I'm not sure what the original context was for that statement, but it certainly describes what happens in the life of a Christ-follower as they grow closer and closer to Jesus. Jesus is in the heart-changing business, and just when we think we've got life figured out and we've got it all together spiritually, He reveals yet another area of disobedience or uncleanness in our life that needs to be turned from in order for us to go on with God. And by the way, repentance isn't just agreeing with God that we messed up. It includes the action step of truly forsaking it (Proverbs 28:13 ).

So repentance is what is needed to begin a relationship with Jesus (Lord, I give up running my own life and from now on, I'm yours). And repentance is what keeps us close to God's heart and keeps us in the center of His will.

In conclusion, repentance looks differently for all of us. But ultimately, the things we need to repent of are the things that mean more to us than our relationship with Jesus. Sometimes we need to repent of the things we are doing that is not God's best (these are called sins of commission). Examples: breaking off an unhealthy dating relationship that is taking you in a wrong direction; choosing to no longer tell half truths; choosing to no longer be shady in business deals. These are things we stop doing as an act of repentance.

There are also things that we aren't doing that God wants us to begin doing. These are called sins of omission, such as making it a daily habit to spend time in God's Word and in prayer. Telling our family how much we love them. Showing our lost friends and co-workers, and the people in our community the love of Jesus in practical ways.

Repentance isn't just a change in our behavior that is always observable. It begins in the heart by allowing God to shed His light into the places that we've kept in the dark for fear of exposure. Just remember that sin has no real power over you until it becomes a secret. Allow God to work His conviction into your spirit by asking Him to reveal "blind spots" and areas that you've held onto that are keeping you from experiencing the life God wants to give you.