Walking With JesusSample

### Confession and Repentance We saw yesterday that in order to be saved, we must confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our life. Lordship means that Jesus becomes the owner and master of our life. This includes surrendering your will, emotions, control, finances, relationships, and every other aspect of your life to Him. The Greek word for repentance is metanoeia . It literally means to “change your mind or attitude towards something.” It involves a 180-degree turn towards Jesus! We have to change our way of thinking as well as our actions. Remorse is when we experience sadness or self-pity because of what we have done wrong, but repentance is liberating. We need real godly sorrow. Godly sorrow means that we begin to hate sin because it destroys us, our relationship with God and our relationships with those we love. Forgiveness of our sins is a free gift; we cannot deserve it. So many times we feel guilty and we run away from God. We should, however, run to Him – He is quick to forgive when we repent. Reflection questions (write your answers in a journal): * Who must repent? (see Acts 17:30) * What do you think it means to deny yourself? * What is the proof of true repentance? (see Acts 26:20) * What are the three main areas in your life that you must still surrender to the lordship of Jesus? Action Now take the boldness in this week to share with some of your friends about an area in your life where God’s light must still shine and where you must deny yourself. If you have not yet committed your life to God, ask a believing friend to pray with you. Testimony: As a child, I perceived God as an old man brandishing a stick. I thought His main objective in my life was to punish me for what I did wrong. I really believed God was only out to spoil my fun. It was only after receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour that my perception of Him changed. I no longer believed that God was a “sin-conscious” God, but rather that He was a “me-conscious” God.