"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."
The positive changes in our lives are not brought about because we are scared into doing better, in fact it is quite the opposite! We serve a God who is so wonderful and pure and holy and merciful and full of kindness and patience (known as longsuffering), that when we compare our lives and our choices and attitudes and behaviours to His Marvellous-ness - we realize that our behaviour isn't as good as we thought it was and we repent.
'Repent' is an interesting word.
It's meaning is composed of several parts. 1.) we recognize our flaws when we are exposed to God's goodness 2.) we apologize for our misdeeds because we honestly know those actions were wrong and feel badly for having done them 3.) we change so we don't do it again, and 4.) we make amends - we fix what we can.
This change doesn't always happen instantly, sometimes it is a 'work in progress'!
When we experience God's Love for us, truly experience it, we are changed, transformed. God's Love can cross any distance and touch the heart and soul of any sinner who is willing to accept it. Nothing is too hard for God and nobody is so far gone that God's love can't turn them around.
Each time we experience God's Love our desire to live better lives increases. His Goodness is a goal for us to attain. His Mercy, His Forgiveness, His Patience, His Kindness, His Grace are all at a level that challenges us to be our very best!!
When we are around negative people, situations, or environments, we are driven to rise above and show God's love as an example of hope to any who are seeking. So when we entertain a negative thought, we repent. When we do wrong we repent. And we strive to be the best human being we can be - Motivated by Love, without judgment.
continuing to break open the scriptures for 30 days...
With Love,
~ Miss J
http://ThingsYouWantedToSay.com