TWO GREAT WORDS TO EMBRACE

Conviction and repentance are two words I’ve come to love. Together they make possible new beginnings, fresh starts, reconciliation, growth and maturity, and a life pleasing to God.

Conviction is God's love reaching. It is often used to describe strongly held beliefs.  I like its other meaning, the act of proving or declaring one guilty of an offence.  The reason I like it is conviction as such is a gift from God, an act of God’s grace.  It is God's love whispering that we are drifting away from him.  God pricks or tweaks the conscience he built into us to recognize when we are guilty of moral shortfall.  He helps us see when we are off track and moving in a direction in conflict with God’s Way.  

In the Gospel of John (16) referencing the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, Jesus states that he will send a Helper who will do two things: (1) “He will convict the world of sin” (v. 8); (2) He will guide you into all truth.” (v. 13).  This is good news.  It means that the Holy Spirit is interested in us enough to talk to us about our disobedience and sin, and then guide us in the way of Jesus, because we seem to be going in the wrong direction.  The Holy Spirit is a divine GPS keeping us on the right path.  But conviction only works if we are willing to follow His guidance and direction.  This means repentance.

Repentance is our reaching back.  It naturally follows conviction. The Holy Spirit calls us to repent.  Repentance is how we get back on track and proceed to follow Christ walking with him in the same direction.  Repentance is an act of the will in which we say, “You're right, Lord.  I'm wrong. Forgive my disobedience.  I will follow you, Lord.”  It is often expressed as a 180 degree turn, but it is more.  It is a surrender of our will and an embrace of God’s will.  It is a change of heart as much as a change of life’s direction.

Conviction and repentance go together even in the little things.  Conviction is that nagging feeling that something is wrong, or knowing fully well that we’re not on the course God intended.  Repentance is confessing our sin, that we have drifted off course from the Way God desires.  Any pilot knows that if she drifts just 2 degrees off course in flight, and the longer that continues, it guarantees she will not arrive at a place originally intended.  A serious adjustment is necessary.

Some of the little things that can push us 2 degrees off course into sin include tiny lies, gossip, false witness, disrespecting others, holding on to grudges, bitterness, unresolved anger, neglecting the needs and suffering of others, choosing not to help another because it is inconvenient, having a divided heart, and not honouring God with thanks and praise for the grace He provides.  These are just a few, but day after day they add up and call for recognizing these little things that shape the clay of our lives into something other than the likeness of Christ.

Conviction is God’s grace helping us to see ourselves for whom we are becoming, someone other than whom he has in mind.  That’s a good thing.  All God’s grace calls for our response.  Repentance, the 180 degree, heartfelt turn, is our only realistic response to God’s grace.  That’s a good thing too.  God’s grace and our response, then more grace and our response is how we let the Potter shape the clay of our lives into his likeness, holiness.  Glory be to God!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us

our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

HEALING BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

A broken relationship is a problem that faces everyone at some time.  We are fallen creatures.  We disappoint and are let down by others.  We betray and others are likewise unfaithful to us.  Trust and mistrust are difficult to juggle when the relationship becomes uncertain.  By the time it is clear that the relationship has gone on the rocks or over the cliff, the harm has been reciprocal.  The relationship crashes and one or more persons are wounded.  The hurt goes deep and lasts a long time, sometimes a lifetime.  Bitterness sets in and festers. Memories become painful and nagging.  The tape of wrong doing is played over and over.  Guilt or bitterness lingers and peace seems impossible.  Is peace and healing of the memories possible?

This is the question that must be asked if there is to be any change for the better.  Three Rs in rebuilding the relationship are necessary.  First is the difficult but essential act of Repentance for one’s part in the failure.  This is not just saying I’m sorry.  Regret may be real, but regret is not enough.  Repentance is saying I was headed in the wrong direction in the relationship.  I turn, change from the wrong way and pursue the right one.  It may be a 180 degree turn, but it is essential.  The old way must be surrendered. 

The second step is Reconciliation.  When two things or people are reconciled they are brought back together.  The relationship is restored to its former self before the break.  There is a renewal of the relationship as it was intended in the first place.  Things are set right between the two to each one’s benefit and satisfaction.  Peace once again reigns and healing is made possible.

The third step is a greater Restoration to righteousness.  Righteousness is right living.  The door of restoration is opened by reconciliation.  The potential originally possible from the relationship is now possible again.  The restoration of hope and progress is beyond what was realized before the break.  It is a restoration of actualizing something greater.  The healing and recovery is a process of perfecting the relationship, of growing together beyond what was possible in the past.

These three steps are difficult to take with others when we are harmed and hurting, when there has been unfaithfulness and good reason for loss of trust.  But for deep restoration, someone must act.  That’s exactly what Christ did for us on the cross.  He took the first step by taking on our sin so we might be reconciled to God and restored to our ultimate potential.  That is the restoration of the image of God in us,  to be like him in holiness and purity of heart.  It is a process of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration to righteousness, then being perfected by the Holy Spirit more and more each day.