Your Moment at the Well
The Lord’s insight. When we live a life of repentance, we will produce a life of repentant fruit.
1 Samuel 16:7: “But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as a man sees; for a man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Matthew 3:8: “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father.”
I spend a lot of time repenting of my sins, but then I sin again. I spend a lot of time asking forgiveness for my thoughts and my actions, but I have thoughts and actions that need to be forgiven again and again. I wonder why my life as a believer does not line up with what I say as a believer.
We sin, we repent, then we sin again in some other way. Seems the cycle of sin and repenting and sin just goes around. Why can’t we break free of this? Can we break free? Am I alone in this?
For me, the very thing I don’t want to do, often that is the thing I do. The very thing I should do, that is the thing I don’t do. The very thing that could help me is the last thing I go to. The very thing that can hurt me is the thing I find easier to embrace.
It would be easy for us to simply conclude that we are sinners, and sin is what we do. I don’t want to be a hypocrite when I say I love the Lord, but still, I am not always obedient to what He says. Sin is indeed a big reason we struggle to live faithfully. But there is more.
Sometimes I ask myself “what is wrong with me?” It seems so wrong for me to know better but to not do better. But the fruit I bear comes from the person I don’t want to be. So, it comes down to this for me. I am not able to live a life of a believer on my own.
We need the help of the Lord at work transforming our hearts so that He can impact our actions and our behaviors. 1 Samuel 16:7, is telling us that the Lord looks deep in our hearts to know who we really are. What we say and do before others is not truest indication of the health of our walk with the Lord.
Matthew 3:8 then reminds us that there are people among us who have chosen their own brand of faith and actions based not on the Word but on how they want the Word to play out in their lives. These people He says, should change from their way to a repentant way of life.
I realize now that I often try to live a changed life with a life that is not changed. I keep bearing the same old fruit because I keep nurturing the seeds of the same old life. I repent of sin over and again because I do not plant an unrepentant seed into my life.
For me, to repent is an action I am willing to do over and again. But repentance is the key to life change because repentance says I will live in a constant state of change from who I was to who the Lord wants me to be. Repentance starts and never ends.
A repentant life is the key to having a fruit-bearing life. A repentant life is ultimately the work that must be done to transform our hearts so that we are able to produce fruit worthy of identifying our transformation.
I can clearly see now why I could not live better. I was living off my own strength to repent. But I needed the Lord to help me live a repentant life. I could not do it on my own nor can you or anyone else. If you want to change your behaviors and your way of life, you must learn to live a repentant life.
When you learn to live a repentant life, others will see something in you that screams of your belief in the Lord. And even though you may trip or stumble along the way, others would likely see that as a stumble from something old that needed changing so that you can fall into something more of the Lord.
Scripture says the fruit of the Spirit of such a transformed life is:
- Love: Demonstrating a love for God and then for others, even when it’s challenging.
- Joy: Experiencing joy that is not dependent on circumstances but rather rooted in your relationship with God.
- Peace: Living in inner peace and extending it to others because you are a child of God.
- Patience: Learning to be ok with waiting until the right thing happens for you and for others.
- Kindness: Treating others with the kindness and compassion that the Lord treats you.
- Goodness: Pursuing the Good God wants us to pursue always.
- Faithfulness: Being faithful in your relationship with the Lord and what He can count on you to be.
- Gentleness: Living so that your life brings gentleness and humility in all your interactions.
- Self-control: Exercising command of yourself in all your ways so others can tolerate you.
When you are living a repentant life, you will produce the fruit that is the indication that you are working to transform yourself from simply having repented of your sins and turned from your past to a life that is guided to its future by a transformed heart that is changed more each day.
A repentant life is a quiet life. It’s a life that allows the fruit to speak.
Live a Delivered Life.
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