Have you ever done something that you were truly sorry for?
Something that went wrong or something that hurt someone you love? You felt bad
and ashamed and wished you could redo what happened. You felt so sorry that you
wanted to make sure that thing didn’t happened again. This is a part of true
repentance unto God for your sins. When you repent, you are truly sorry for
your specific sins and you ask God to forgive you and you work to make sure you
don’t commit that sin again. Why would you do something again, on purpose,
knowingly aware that it does not make God happy if you were truly sorry?
Some of us get so caught up in what makes us feel good that
we get to the point where we are asking for forgiveness KNOWING we are going to
do that sin again. Or better yet, some of us commit sin with the intention to
ask for forgiveness afterwards. My question is, what if you don’t make it to
that point? What if you drop dead right there in the middle of that sin? So why
do it? And if you are truly saved and truly trying to live a Christ-like life,
why would you WANT to commit those sins???
The purpose of this post is to remind you that repenting and
asking for forgiveness is not something to take lightly and to do just because
you can. There is meaning behind it. If you truly want to live a righteous
life, then once you repent, you need to continue to be in the Word and seek God
in order to avoid those sins and be strong when faced with the temptations.
It’s not always easy, but THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE! Don’t you dare use Jesus dying
on that cross for you as an excuse to keep doing foolishness! If you want to
live right, you work at it. If you mess up, you repent because you messed up
and feel terrible about it because you have disappointed God. Not because you
think that if you say, “Lord I have sinned, please forgive me” (and go right
back to foolishness), that you will have eternal life.
That’s what this is all about! Your soul! Jesus died so you
could have a chance to live in eternity with him and you take it for granted?
Some people think that because they believe Jesus died for their sins that they
can carry on with foolishness and they’re still okay because they believe.
Honey, let me tell you there’s more to it than that!
Reaching True
Salvation
First, in order to
reach salvation, there are some steps. The very first step is to hear the
gospel. Most of us have. The next step
would be to believe the gospel. Most of us do. Then, here’s where we stop. The
next thing that should be done is that you repent (be sorry for your sins).
This is where you tell you God of the wrong you have done and tell Him how
sorry you are. Ask Him to help you get things right. Tell Him you need Him and
that you want to do right. Job confessed his sins and repented, despising
himself. (Job 42: 1-6) He was not happy with himself. That’s how sorry we
should be. Unhappy with ourselves because we know that we let God down and that
He sees us in our good and even the worst of the bad. Some stuff we wouldn’t
even want our mama’s to see us doing, so why are we okay with God watching our
foolishness?
The next step after repenting of your sins is to then tell
others of the goodness of God and how Jesus has died for our sins so that we
may live a Godly life and not face the harsh consequences that would have been
upon us had He not died. Spread the word so others may be saved also! (Romans
10:9-10, Matthew 10:32) Don’t be ashamed to tell about Jesus! At my very first
full-time job, things were hard and it wasn’t the most pleasant place to work.
The employees were very miserable, but one of them noticed how I was always so
cheery. She came and asked me how I stayed so happy. My response, “Jesus.” Ever since I was a little girl, I was a firm
believer of Hebrews 13:6 “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I
will not fear; what can man do to me?”” and that’s how I made it through that
time in my life. I believed that my better was coming and I just needed to be
faithful in that area first.
Next is baptism (Acts 2:38) which symbolizes your old self
dying and you rising as the saved and sanctified you! Then there’s living Godly
(Titus 2:11-12). It’s hard to stay saved when you’re living the life of a
sinner…
Staying Saved
Basically, one of the hardest things about being saved is
staying saved. A lot of people think that once you know that Jesus died on the
cross and you believe it, that’s it…your saved. A lot of people KNOW this, but
they are still sinners. They haven’t given their life over to Christ by
repentance, baptism and living a life that exemplifies Christ. Once you are
truly saved, your task is then to continue to live a Godly life. When you mess
up, you repent. And you WILL mess up. Things will be really hard. And God still
needs to know that you trust Him in it all. My post titled “Time to Let Go”
talks more about staying saved.
Remember that repenting means to be truly sorry for your
sins so much that you truly don’t want to do them again and you really want
God’s forgiveness because you realize how imperfect you are without Him. It is needing
God to help us because we are a mess without Him.
http://www.churchofgodofchicago.com/newsletter/10stepstostayingsaved.pdf
