Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  Matthew 3:8 NKJV

Have you ever had a parent force you to say you are sorry? Perhaps you truly were sorry, and you meant it, but just needed encouragement. Or, maybe you weren’t sorry, and given the chance to do it all over again, you wouldn’t change a thing. Sometimes we say I’m sorry to keep the peace, but we don’t really mean it.

When we repent, we are telling God we are sorry for our sins. So, I guess the question today is, are you really sorry for your sin? True repentance requires action. What does this mean? Well, this means that when we say we are sorry and we really mean it, we strive not to make the same mistakes again. If we are sorry for our sinful behavior, we let our sins go. We change our sinful ways. We strive to do what is right and pleasing to God.

When we say we are sorry and fail to change our behavior, this usually implies we are just sorry we got caught. When we say we won’t do it again, we mean that we will be seeking ways to keep our sins hidden and not allow them to come out in the open. The problem with this is you can’t keep your sin hidden from God. He sees all, and He knows all. So, there’s that. Jesus said in Luke 8:17, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”

Our sin is not hidden from God. And our sin grieves God’s Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30-32 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit and let all unrighteous behavior be removed from us. It tells us in verse 32 that we should be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave us.

Truly repenting is not an easy thing to do. First, we have to say we’re sorry. And as Chicago said in their hit song from 1982, “It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry.” So, I get it. Saying we are sorry is not easy to do. Truly meaning we are sorry is even more difficult because it means our attitude and behavior must change. This typically requires a change of mind and a change of heart.

When we say we are sorry, we need to mean it. This requires action on our part. It means we must bear fruits worthy of repentance. This means we must act like we are sorry. We must do the things God has called us to do. John the Baptist was warning these people that they could not rely on their ancestry to save them, but they must do what is right.

We can’t rely on our parents or grandparents being good, Christian people. We must do right. We must strive for righteousness.

Every day we should tell God we are sorry. Why? Because we commit sins we don’t even realize we are committing through our thoughts and our words. When we say we are sorry, we must also change our behavior. We must strive daily to say and do the things that bring God glory, honor and praise.

I know it’s hard to say we are sorry especially when it requires action, but we must do this to receive God’s forgiveness. Please remember, however, that saying it will never be enough, we must put it in action.

Have a great day!