Good morning people who are who you are in Christ because of the gift of repentance.

One of the most wonderful and powerful words in the whole Bible is the word repentance. And yet most people see it as more of a negative word, or at best, a necessary word for bad people.

The word repentance means to think differently.

But it is imperative to understand that the power of true repentance is not just to think differently, because you can think differently and still think wrong.

Biblical repentance is to think differently, that is, to think according to God’s reality.

Repentance is about a shift from ‘carnal-minded’ to ‘spiritually-minded’.

Repentance is about a shift from ‘self-focused’ to ‘God-focused’.

Repentance is about a shift from ‘how we want things done’ to ‘on earth as it is in heaven’.

Do you see the depth of the gift of repentance?

The best repentance comes from the prompting of the Holy Spirit. By this I mean, it is not about us constantly self-examining, but as we live surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and focused on intimacy with the Father, the Holy Spirit lovingly highlights areas of our lives that are incompatible with the nature of God.

Our response to the Holy Spirit’s prompts is repentance. Yes, there is an acknowledgement of sin and a need to ask the Father to forgive us, but this is followed with us receiving God’s forgiveness and us entering into a different way of thinking and living.

I declare: This is a year of reclaiming repentance as the gift of God that it is.