Repentance Leads To Restoration

-October 13, 2022-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of this world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).

“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

Paul as a wise and loving spiritual father had to share some very difficult words with the Corinthians in his first epistle due to their response to a man who had sinned in their midst and other things that needed to be corrected. His goal for them and the man was restoration. There is always a way back to God. It starts with conviction, then godly sorrow over sin, then confession, and repentance. It is a process we must repeat when we sin, whether we consider the sin big or small.

David wrote, “He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” All sin is an abomination to God and cuts off our fellowship with the Lord and those lines of communication must be restored. The word restore is defined as, “to bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate; return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position.”

Someone once said, “In the Bible, restoration is always in abundance. When something is restored, it is always better than it was to begin with. God’s promise to us is a better life, a better future for ourselves and our loved ones.” Jonah was restored after he ran away from his calling and responsibility of preaching to the people of Nineveh; Peter was restored after denying the Lord three times; David was restored after sinning with Bathsheba and having her husband killed; and John Mark was restored after leaving the work of the Lord.

There is nothing better than being restored by God. We are His children and His servants. When we are restored we are brought closer to the Lord and are better than we were before. Thus, godly sorrow for our sins and failures leads to repentance and restoration. It is always better to avoid situations where we sin and need to be restored, but we are sinners saved by grace and we still have the old nature. We are weak and vulnerable. We are not sinless but we sin less.

Have a blessed day keeping short accounts with God by confessing our sins with godly sorrow and repentance. God will restore us. Stay safe and healthy.

In the blessing of repentance and restoration,

Dean