A VITAL AND COMMON CHRISTIAN MISTAKE--Monday Midnite

Why do most Christians consistently make the mistake of anticipating automatic and unconditional forgiveness when they trespass against their fellow Christians? Do they know that by so doing, they are neglecting and completely undermining the fact that Christ himself placed a clear and fundamental prerequisite to seeking and attaining forgiveness? 

The said prerequisite is called REPENTANCE. 

To me, repentance and forgiveness are like two oysters in the same shell, with repentance on the left side and forgiveness on the right side. They work together hand in hand, inseparable pairs, twins...if you will. And ascertaining which twin must always come out to play first in Christ-like conflict resolution is absolutely a no-brainer. The good book succinctly stipulated their coming out order. 

However, I have discovered through research and personal experiences that there's disparity between the level of focus and attention we as Christians place on forgiveness compared to that which we place on repentance. Needless to say that this is erroneous, enormously unfair to the latter, and consequently poses a great danger, not only to our peaceful coexistence with our friends, neighbors, families, colleagues, partners, etc, but also to our collective growth as Christians. 

What we seem to voice and hear more within  Christian-dom are phrases like "ask for forgiveness, " seek forgiveness," pray for forgiveness," etc, etc. But what we really need to be saying and hearing  more are "repent of what you've done to your sister," repent of what you've done to your brother," etc, etc. So I wonder, how come the rumbling of the drumbeat of repentance is at its lowest decibel ever amongst Christians in this day and age? 


Is it that we are falsely sold to the ludicrous belief that once we become "born again" Christians, whatever trespasses we commit against others are instantaneously wiped away by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ without any efforts from us by way of sincere repentance? 

Is it because the piercing and spiritually brutal sound of the word "repent" cuts deep into the hearts of men and women like a razor-sharp knife and compels our conscience to prick, pest and grind us until we garner enough courage to overcome our inherent pride and ego and do the right thing which is....repent? 

I know that the nice, warm and cool sound of "ask for forgiveness" is more soothing to the ears than the  rough and rugged sound of "you must repent," but we don't need soothing to get to soothing. We need a broken heart and a contrite spirit which are the fruits of repentance to get to the soothing sound that forgiveness brings. 

Yes, forgiveness soothes the heart and soul and makes everything peaceful again between the offender and the offended, but without unleashing the hefty burden of our trespasses through its twin....repentance, the soothing peace that forgiveness brings can never be truly attained. 

So let's not deceive ourselves. There are no shortcuts. No true forgiveness without genuine repentance. Time may heal the pain to an extent, but it will never heal it totally, and will most definitely never bring lasting peace (physically and spiritually) between the offender and the offended. Only forgiveness attained through a contrite heart of  repentance can do that. 

My fellow Christian sisters and brothers, it is imperative that we rectify this vital and common Christian mistake expeditiously and truly elevate repentance to the forefront of our daily Christian way of life so that we can generally become better people, as well as become more spiritually accomplished and fulfilled in our daily walk with Christ. 

Thank you for reading this piece, and may God, through His only begotten Son, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who voluntarily offered himself as the ultimate fruit of repentance, even unto death, in order to secure forgiveness for our collective inherited sins of our first earthly parents, continue to teach, nourish, guide, protect and bless us according to His will, grace, mercy and loving kindness, forever and ever, amen. 

Monday Midnite.    

Important link: 

Luke 17:3 King James Version.