Thank you for all your advice. It is very useful.
Hi Jesse! My advice to you is first to understand the meaning of repentance.
There are different stages of repentance: first in Your thoughts. First you need to think that Your actions, Words and thoughts are wrong. This is certaintly the easiest step which you probably have done.
The second step is by saying it. Repenting by Words. You have to tell Jesus that you will repent. And remember that He searches the heart and tests the mind (Jeremiah 17,10). He knows if you mean what you say. He sees Beyond your words, he sees to your motives and to the Depths of Your heart. If you truly repent also by words, and God sees a whole heart he will accept that repentance gladly.
The last step is by actions. This is the hardest one. If you truly repent you will show it by Your actions. If you stole anything (of course not a little bit of candy of 1 dollar Worth or something alike), you will Return it and pay what it is Worth. We have to be wise to see what needs to be taken care of, and what doesn't. However, if you don't feel Peace about it I would do something about it.
Jesus gave us His opinion about it, which is very serious (from Matthew 5,23-26):
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
I don't know how much you know about this altergift. It was a gift People came to God With once a year (!), it was also an expensive gift. And Jesus tells them that if you remember Your Brother has spomething against you LEAVE Your gift to put it right With him. So Jesus reminds us of the importance of making up for what we have done. I know there are many Things we can make up for. If we stole from someone we have no Clue who is and alike situations.
If you repent by actions you are truly repenting. This is a true repentance. I don't know Your life and what you struggle With, but this are the stages i believe we have to do it to truly repent. I know this sounds really theoretical, but it isn't, really. Thouhts and Words often comes pretty automatical, but actions are a thing that really comes from the heart. For if you do something so humiliating you truly want Jesus above anything.
But something that is crucial in repentance is this; you must repent towards God. It seems like a matter of course maybe, but it is something we sometimes forget. Hosea said this in his book, in the 7th Chapter and 16th verse:
They return,
but not to the Most High;
They are like a treacherous bow.
Their princes shall fall by the sword
For the cursings of their tongue.
This
shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
They did repent, but not to God. We must remember to turn to Him. Because we can repent from stealing to fighting and so on. So repent towars Him!
I want you to get that repentance doesn't need to be a 180 degree change. This is almost always said, but really it isn't like that always. If you reprent from being a sinner to God, that is a 180 degree change. But what if you are a believer in Christ, do you need to change direction 180 degrees all the time? No. Sometimes we may just be 2 degrees off. It is like a Compass. When we have repented towards God we can come off course, but rarely 180 degrees when you have come to The Lord. So remember that sometimes it is just small changes that needs to be done.
I also want to add another thing: You have to remember that forgiveness is really strong. If you have repented and truly believe in Your heart that you have done so you are forgiven. Stand upon His promises. Jesus told us to prech repentance and the remission of sins (Luke 24,47). Jesus sais that repentance leads to forgiveness. And if you truly are forgiven you can stand upon His Word and proclaim that you are forgiven. And if you live a life of repentance he will forgive you gladly. Remember that repentance is something that needs to be a lifestyle, it something that happens through Our Whole life. But when you are forgiven for something after you have repented you don't have to ask for forgiveness for it again unless you fall into that sin again. Why? Because to Him it is gone.
Hebrews 8,12 even sais this: For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It isn't just gone, IT IS FORGOTTEN! When God forgives you he forgets it. The only way he can remember Your sin is if it hasn't been forgiven. So if you feel guilt for something you have been forgiven for after repenting, that guilt is from the devil. He tries to deceive you, but when you are forgiven by God, Your sin is gone, TOTALLY. As David said in Psalms 103,12: As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
They are GONE.
I hope this will help Your understanding of repentance and that it will help you. Bless you Jesse, and may God be With you and help you understand what I have wrote to you With help from the Holy Spirit.
