Yesterday’s devotion focused on both initial and ongoing repentance. We must have an initial repentance in order to enter into a relationship with our Father God. That is when we acknowledge we were headed in the wrong direction and turn toward God instead of away from Him.
Once we have entered that relationship with our Father (through the cross of Christ Jesus), we are going to have times when we have sinned that we need to come once again confessing our sins to Him. John reminds us that our Father is faithful and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [1John 1:9]
This morning I would also add that as Christians we should be living a “lifestyle of repentance.”
What do I mean by that?
Initial repentance brought us into the family of God, into right relationship with our Father. Ongoing repentance restores us when we have allowed sin to interfere with that relationship. But living a “lifestyle of repentance” keeps us daily walking in that relationship.
A lifestyle of repentance keeps us from deviating from that narrow path. Before we ever “commit” that sin, before we even begin to turn from God, we check ourselves and stay in the will of God. It means immediately responding to the warnings of God’s Spirit within us, rather than entertaining the temptation of the enemy.
When we seek to abide in that “lifestyle of repentance,” we stay strong in our faith, and faithful to our God.