Daily Manna: Beyond Remorse

Friday 19, July 2013

TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 7:8-16

KEY VERSE: “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Corinthians 7:11).

Often times, people tend to put forth a show of regret and repentance over a wrong act. But this, most times, is when such wrong or evil deed once concealed is about to be revealed. For fear of shame and avoidance of the consequences of their actions, they express regret and repentance. But as we take a closer look at it, such repentance is at best cosmetic; it is not genuine. If there was no chance for their evil deeds to be discovered and if there were no consequences for their wrong actions, they wouldn’t see the need to repent.

From our text today, genuine repentance goes beyond mere remorse for sin. It is the true acknowledgment of the sinfulness of one’s actions. It comes from a conviction that one has sinned and not just because one’s sins are about to be exposed or for fear of judgment. It is the willing acceptance of one’s actions as being evil and not just a coerced admission of guilt. What follows will show how real the repentance is. There will be a readiness to quit subsequent sinful actions and a readiness to restitute, where necessary. There will be watchfulness and carefulness to avoid falling into such evil again. This is followed by a genuine desire to always do right and point other evil doers to the right path. It is this kind of repentance that gets forgiveness and pardon from God, no matter the enormity of the evil or sin involved. God has promised to fully pardon all those who will truly repent of their sins.

There is no point trying to hide your evil deed hoping that no one will get to know. Whether it is liked or not, evil deeds will become open secret one day. Surely, everyone’s sin will find him/her out. If you feel condemned within, kneel before the Lord and open-up to Him. He will forgive if you truly repent.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: A concealed sin is a time bomb waiting to explode.

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