One of the greatest things about the Christian faith is that believers have access to unmerited grace. It is a grace that none deserve but has been made available to all who believe in Christ and proclaim His Father, Lord. This grace provides access to forgiveness even when we sin and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).
And the way to receive such forgiveness and grace is to confess and repent for our sins. The Lord has promised to forgive all who do so. 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
However, repentance is not the mere act of telling God, "oops, my bad. I messed up." In fact, saying "sorry" does not necessarily equate to repenting. True repentance is discussed by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:8 - Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God (NLT). This means whenever we truly repent for our sins we must start to live in a way that shows to the Lord that we have rejected the sin we confessed.
There is no question that doing this is not easy. Nevertheless, when we are confronted by our sinful ways and repent for them, we must do all we can to not continue the behavior. We do not want to be like the foolish person spoken of in Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
So how do we not return to our sin? How do we live like those who have truly repented?
It is crucial for us to confront our sins and the reasons why we commit them. Do we tend to gossip when around certain people or places, be they online or in person? Do we lie when under pressure? Do we use foul language when we're hungry and/or haven't slept? Do we fornicate when we haven't been spending time with the word of God? We need to be honest and keep track of the triggers that cause us to sin. We need to look at our lives with a critical eye and eliminate the people, behaviors, and other things that are common factors causing us not to please God.
Most importantly, we must call on God for help in identifying and removing the triggers that cause us to fall cheaply into satan's snare. The devil wants each of us to sin against God and it works hard to accomplish its mandate to steal, kill, and destroy lives (John 10:10). Our objective is to not be punked by satan. God is faithful to help us overcome the evil one. He is also invested in helping us not succumb to sinful thoughts and behaviors. It is therefore key to invite Him into the fight against sin, rely fully upon Him, and watch Him bring victory.
Finally, having acknowledged our sins, we must actually hate them. We can't expect God to help us with sinful behaviors that we don't want to get rid of. If we sugarcoat our iniquity, we won't want it gone and thus, we won't be able to truly repent. We can't ignore what God says is sin because the world says it isn't. Consider Romans 12:9 - Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good (AMP). Sin is evil and unrighteous and these are the things we are to HATE so we can truly turn away from them.
Be aware that we will make mistakes and sometimes, we will need to repent again. God is gracious and He sees our efforts to be better. Although that start and stop cycle may be discouraging, don't give up! Remember that nothing of value comes cheaply. Even Jesus had to resist satan more than once so expect to resist your sin more than once too. Yet, as long as you've tagged God into the match, be rest assured that He will help you overcome and live a life of true repentance to His glory.
