Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:12-17
How should our community work? What should be the atmosphere in the ekklesia? How should we interact with one another? The above scripture is a good reminder of how we should be living with each other.
We can hear the call for ‘repentance’ often mentioned when looking at our current state of things, whether it be in the world, country, state, county, city, local ekklesia (Church), family, and one on one friendships. American culture tends to shortcut and clip a lot of life and processes. That same tendency happens within our spiritual teaching. I recently was sent an article by a friend from Greg Reese on repentance (it can be found at gregreese.substack.com called “The Power of Repentance on the World Around Us”) which laid out a path and steps for communal repentance which I will share in this devotional. Because of it’s (repentance) transformative power it should be talked about, discussed, and woven into our relationships and communities.
Exactly what are the five paths of repentance?
The first path of repentance is contrition, or condemnation of your own sins. We must agree with the conviction that the Holy Spirit is bringing to us. We must be aware of our own sins, weaknesses, and iniquities. We have to learn to not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. If we aren’t aware of what we need to change in our lives and actually be positively working in that direction then we are stagnant in growing.
The second path of repentance is forgiveness. It is forgiving another’s sin that was aimed towards you, as well as you acknowledging your own sin before others and asking for forgiveness. We know Jesus’ standard of how much we should forgive someone. We only have the power and responsibility to change ourselves.
The third path of repentance is prayer. Real prayer is NOT religious but honest. Acknowledging our shortcomings before Him and asking for His forgiveness. Being as transparent and vulnerable as we can with Him in our prayer within our complete heart and soul.
The fourth path of repentance is kind deeds towards others. The fifth fruit of the Spirit is kindness. We must learn how to be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit that telling us how to show kindness to others by actual compassion and generosity. Is He asking you to share with others? What is He asking you to share / give specifically?
The fifth path of repentance is humility. Pride is the opposite of humility. We must be in constant relationship and communication with the Holy Spirit everyday so that we understand where we stand with God, and that always brings true humility. Always thinking of others before ourselves.
When these five steps are in practice in the community by the majority of the people THEN you will see real transformation and health. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Do you see these paths being used in your community and circles of influence? Is your ekklesia an example of these paths of repentance? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you in any of these areas?