Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Why Should I Forgive, Part 13 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.”

We are looking at the factors involved in true repentance.

The first is a change of perception: you recognize that what you did to the other person was sin.

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

I. The third factor involved in true repentance is that you confess to the person whom you have damaged that what you have done was sinful: you say, “I repent.”

You confess because you understand and identify with the other person’s hurt as a result of your sinful action. It is more than mere words.

You do more than merely “admit” that you did wrong.

You admit that you have sinned. Some people may “confess” who don’t necessarily repent. For example,

Criminals may “confess” to get a lighter sentence. They “cop a plea.” That may be shrewdness, but it isn’t repentance.

Terrorists may “confess” to bombing a bus or a housing complex. They want credit for the act. In fact, they may “confess” what they haven’t done to take credit for an attack. Terrorists have no concern at all for what they have done to other people.

Celebrities may “confess” for the financial pay-off of selling their book.

“True Confessions” aren’t necessarily based on real repentance.

Confession that is part of repentance is the “rumbling of a crumbling heart” (as Lewis Smedes puts it in Forgive and Forget). You throw yourself on the other person for no other reason than that you hope for forgiveness you don’t deserve.

When you confess in true repentance, you are vulnerable.

You have no “rights.” You have no claim on the other person. You cannot tell the wounded person what she ought to do.

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.

The third is that you confess that what you have done was sinful.