REPENTANCE DOESN’T COME EASILY

If it is true, as I believe it is, that to forgive another is perhaps the most powerful action we can perform; and if believing that God not only forgives whatever sins we have committed but also forgets them, erases them from his memory – if that is, in fact, truly unbelievable even as it is true, then the only way to truly forgive another and accept God’s forgiveness and forgetfulness for our own sinfulness is to repent.

Why is this so? It is impossible to forgive someone who has hurt us if we cannot forgive ourselves. We hurt others and we are hurt by others. In order to come to terms with our own willingness to deliberately hurt someone we love and then ask to be forgiven – and vice versa – we have to stand back and examine why we did what we did, realize that we had no reason to be so selfish and then repent of our actions. If there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness, real forgiveness.

It is also impossible for us to accept God’s forgiveness and truly believe that God forgets as well if we do not repent of that for which we desire forgiveness. We can’t say we are sorry if we are not willing to admit that we should not have done in the first place that for which we are asking to be forgiven. Without repentance words of sorrow and regret are merely words that have no meaning in truth or fact.

Even more it is impossible for us to grow as a person without repentance. For repentance demands that we take seriously our deliberate failings and shortcomings and not only be willing to do something to correct them but actually do something. Repentance is not only a noun, it is also a verb, an action. We not only learn from our mistakes. We also and more importantly grow from our mistakes.

So what does all this mean? Forgiveness means that we come to our senses about our sinfulness and do something (repent) to change our ways. Forgetting the past means that we realize that we cannot undo what we have done, the sins we have committed, but can only repent of them, ask forgiveness and move on with our lives. Doing that and only doing that brings growth as a person. Otherwise we simply stagnate.

Repentance doesn’t come easily. Why? Because true repentance demands that we change the way we live and move and have our being. If we are unwilling to change, then we will keep doing the same things, commit the same sins, over and over again. Unless we are willing to learn from the past and not allow it to control our present, which is what forgetting is all about, we cannot move on and, thus, cannot grow.

No one can force us to forgive, forget, repent and change. It is up to us. But we know we can because of God’s love for us and our love for God and one another. That gives us the strength to forgive and forget. And with God’s grace, that is always offered and only needs to be accepted, change and growth are not only possible but will be a reality.