All tagged repentance
Prayer should bring us to repentance, and then transform our character. God revels in the repentance of sinners, but repentance involves much more than the empty words "I'm sorry", it requires a change of heart... A turning away from what offended. In fact, that is the literal meaning of the word; turning away.
Long before His coming the prophet’s foretold of the Messiah, and yet when He did come to them in Bethlehem, many didn’t repent of their sins nor acknowledge His presence as Emanuel… “God with us”. Now, in this modern age, have we returned once again to that same disbelief, and do we refuse to repent and turn back towards the truth as we should? Much like those who waited long ago for the Messiah to come to them, have we grown weary of waiting and turned our backs on Him too; have we refused to repent of our sins, and no longer acknowledge the presence of God, and His Holy Spirit? If so, we are like one who stands on the mountain, hears the voice of God, then turns to gaze into the valley below. We are missing the restoration that is coming when Jesus returns to resurrect us. Our lack of repentance reveals the lost nature of our souls, and by looking longingly at the easy path downhill rather than the climb ahead of us we deny our redemption and the joy that awaits us in it.
As Christians we live to love. We love our God with all our heart, sole, mind, and strength; we love His Son Jesus, and we love our neighbors as ourselves, but in all of our opportunities to love we are to do so without requiring that we be loved first in exchange for giving our love. A Christian’s love is meant to be unconditional like the love that God modeled for us when He sent His Son to redeem us. We are to love with the humble obedient love that Jesus demonstrated during his life, death, and resurrection. If we can love others in this way then we will be judged as good, and our love will endure forevermore. Do we live our lives so that above all else we will find peace, joy, and comfort in eternal life, or do we seek to love abundantly, and to experience God’s divine love forevermore… even if it might cost us our lives?