Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Why Should I Forgive, Part 12 of 34

TEXT: "And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him" (Luke 17:4).

IDEA: Repentance is an act based on a proper attitude about our sin and how it has affected others.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand what is involved in saying, “I repent.”

Jesus commands in Luke 17:3-4, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him.”

The first factor in true repentance is that it brings a change of perception:

You recognize that what you did to the other person was sin.

I. The second factor in true repentance is a change of emotion that grows out of the change of perception.

You feel the pain that you have made someone else feel because of your sin. You feel ashamed of yourself and of your words and actions.

The name for this pain is guilt. You feel guilt because you are guilty. These are not merely “guilt feelings,” but the sense of real guilt.

While remorse often grows out of the change of perception, remorse itself isn’t necessarily repentance.

For example: Judas felt remorse and thus went out and hanged himself, but he didn’t repent.

We may feel remorse at getting caught, or we may wish that we hadn’t done what we did because our conscience bothers us. That remorse can prod us to repent, but that isn’t repentance.

People may commit suicide as a result of something evil that they have done. They feel remorse, but they may simply want to avoid facing their guilt.

Review:

The first of four factors involved in true repentance is a change of perception.

The second is a change of emotion, growing out of the change of perception.