Repentance Brings Relief

When he came to his senses, he said, . . . “I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.’”
–Luke 15:17–18

Sometimes when I’m driving, a warning light comes on telling me to change the oil. I have a cheap and easy way to deal with that light: I open the glove compartment and hit the reset button, and the light goes away. That’s a lot cheaper and less time-consuming than going somewhere to have my oil changed. Now, what happens if I just hit that reset button and keep driving? I’m going to do some real damage to my engine. That warning light is an indicator that something is wrong and needs to be taken care of.

In the same way, God has given us a warning indicator called guilt. When we start to feel guilty, it’s a sign that something is wrong in our lives.

If we ignore God’s warning, we end up doing real damage to ourselves. Several weeks ago, we looked at the debilitating effects of unresolved guilt–it takes a toll on us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We can ignore God’s warning indicator, or we can take that guilt seriously, acknowledge that we were wrong, and allow God to renovate our hearts. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul wrote, “The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret.” Repentance is necessary to experience relief from guilt.

We have a great illustration of this truth in the story we looked at earlier this week: the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. After wasting all his money, the son found himself feeding pigs. He was absolutely miserable. He could have refused to admit he was wrong and stayed in that pigsty getting stinkier and stinkier. But verse 17 says, “He came to his senses.” The prodigal son realized he needed to turn around, go home, and apologize to his father. That’s exactly what he did, and his father welcomed him with open arms.

Maybe you have wronged somebody else, and you feel God’s warning indicator of guilt. You will never experience relief from that guilt until you say “I’m sorry” and make a change of direction in your life.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Why the Words ‘I’m Sorry’ Are Highly Overrated,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.