October 10, 2007

 

  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

 

--Matthew 3:8

 

I’m sure that you’ve heard the old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.”

 

I believe this is exactly what God is saying to us sometimes. God wants us to worship Him with our mouths and voices, but He also wants us to act upon those words.

 

This is especially true of repentance. The Bible tells us to confess our sins with our mouths…but it also says that God wants to see the change in our lives. The challenge is to move from repentance to commitment!

 

How can you tell if someone is genuine in what they say? Check and see if their actions match their words. As Matthew 3:8 says, we must bear fruit that is consistent with our repentance. That simply means living in a way that matches our verbal commitments to God.

 

The only reliable, outward sign of true repentance is a changed life. Tears, emotions, and words are many times outward signals of inward change, but those can be deceiving. Genuine repentance is displayed when our actions match our words.

 

You probably already know to confess your sins to God to experience His forgiveness. But think about this today. In what ways has that repentance resulted in a change in your life?

 

It’s wonderful to be able to confess our sins to God and experience His forgiveness. Let’s just make sure that what we do after we say “Amen” matches up with the words we just spoke to the Lord.

 

THE SIGN OF AUTHENTIC REPENTANCE IS A CHANGED LIFE.