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Repentance is a very important spiritual discipline. The Scripture emphasizes the importance of repentance.
Today, John the Baptist proclaimed to repent.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. (Matthew 3:2)
A little later, Jesus proclaimed the same message.
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17)
John the Baptist and Jesus both started their ministries with the message of repentance. Also, their entire mission was to make people repent.
Why?
Because everything begins with repentance. Repentance is the beginning of a spiritual journey.
Repentance opens your eyes and lets you see what you ought to see. It is like an awakening.
When the light comes, it exposes everything, and you can see now clearly.
Who you are. Where you are in terms of your life stage. What you want. What you are struggling with. Why you are angry, and why you are down. What is your fear. Where you want to go.
You can see all these things.
There is an old saying, “Ignorance is bliss.” Is it? No, it is not. That is not true.
Ignorance is not bliss. Awakening is bliss.
When there is a spiritual awakening, your eyes open and you see what you ought to see. That is the beginning of living a real life.
One life I live – I want to live a real life. I don’t want to live my whole life being blind to myself. I don’t need to look good to others.
I want to live a real life. That is the most important thing. How others evaluate me is not that important. Being real to myself is more important.
Isaiah experienced God in a temple. The light came and shone on Isaiah and he could see who he was.
He said,
Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! (Isaiah 6:5)
When the light came, he could see who he was. And that is repentance.
Peter experienced a similar thing. He tried to fish all night, but he could catch nothing.
And Jesus told him, “Put out your net into the deep water.” And Peter did and caught so many fish that their nets were breaking.
At that moment, something woke him. He saw who he was.
So he knelt down at Jesus’ knees and confessed,
Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man! (Luke 5:8)
That is repentance.
Repentance is not just remorse, feeling bad about what you did. Repentance is not just being gloomy.
Repentance is the beginning of a new journey. Isaiah and Peter began a new journey through repentance. They began a new life.
Paul experienced the same thing.
He persecuted Christians. And on the road to Damascus, he met the risen Christ. He saw the light. He then fell to the ground.
He finally met his true self. A new journey did then start. He began a new life.
That is repentance.
Send away the old and welcome the new.
So, repentance is the beginning of a new journey. What kind of journey is that?
It is an inner journey. It is a journey into the depths of your true self. Or into the depths of your soul.
It is a journey to get down to who you really are. Not just who you are in terms of what others see. Or what you present to others. But who you are as you are.
That was what Isaiah, Peter, and Paul experienced. They could see who they really were.
During the Christmas season, we hear the story of Scrooge. His real life began with repentance. Until then, he was blind to himself.
Repentance takes you on a journey into the depths of your soul. It is a journey to where we are hurting.
What is there? Your fear, your insecurities, your baggage, your disappointment, your hurt and pain.
Repentance takes you there. So, the inner journey is an arduous journey. Difficult!
That’s why people don’t want to do that. They want to feel strong and positive. They don’t want to face their dark side.
So, you need courage to repent. Who wants to face their baggage? Who wants to revisit their pain and hurt?
So, I realized you cannot go down there alone. The Holy Spirit guides you to where your true self is.
Even though the true self is mixed with all kinds of baggage, coverups, hurt, pain, loneliness, and unfulfilled desires and dreams, that is also where God’s grace is.
So there, your dark self and God’s grace meet. You see your deeply hidden self meet God’s grace. This is where healing happens. Like a chemical reaction.
Repentance is not just a journey into the dark place. Repentance is a journey into God’s grace.
You don’t have to lock up your true self in a small room inside of you. God opened that door for you to see, and God touches each of your baggage, hurt, pain, loneliness and unfulfilled dreams and heals you. You don’t need to fear anymore.
This happens when you truly repent. You experience freedom.
Forgiveness cannot happen when there is no repentance. Spiritual growth cannot happen when you are sabotaged by your dark self. Freedom cannot exist when you are not at peace with yourself.
Repentance is a beautiful spiritual discipline. Practice repentance every day.
You’re going to become more real. You’ll experience more freedom. You will perceive yourself in a balanced way.
You will fail, but it will not destroy you. Though you may fall, you will rise again. Though you will get hurt, you won’t let it permanently damage you.
Isn’t that what St. Paul proclaimed?
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9)
Repentance should be a daily practice. That’s why in pastoral prayer, there should always be an element of repentance. You write 3 things you are grateful for but also write 3 things you repent.
Repentance is a desire to change.
You don’t just accept who you are. You always pursue who you can become.
Repentance can help you do that. Repentance means you face your shortcomings and limitations without fear.
Nothing will shake you when you practice repentance daily.
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