Repentance in Action by Sue Pratt

Strong's Greek dictionary defines repentance as "a reversal of a decision", and to repent means "to reconsider" (morally). I have been in situations where I have allowed myself to make conclusions and judgments, based on first impressions. Often it was a judgment of a person's character or motive. Then the Holy Spirit, in His quiet voice, has spoken that I should “reconsider”. When I followed His prompting, I would suddenly find that there was another way of seeing the situation.

One time, I made a judgment that someone on our team in Liberia was being careless because they allowed the teaspoons from the kitchen to go missing. I asked to talk with him and, unfortunately, a friend walked in the kitchen while I was reprimanding the young man. He was doubly wounded, first by my frustrated, demanding question, and second, by the fact that I had challenged him in front of his older friend. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and convicted me of judgment, impatience and lack of kindness. The young man confronted me too, and I repented in front of him. I also apologized to the other friend. Under the Lord's conviction, I “reconsidered” the whole matter and reversed my decision about the scale of importance of the issue. I decided that my leadership needed to be marked by kindness, so I promptly went to the market and bought more spoons!

Sue Pratt
Core Team, International Leadership Development Course, YWAM Harpenden

More on the topic this month:

A Testimony about Repentance by Ah Kie Lim
Repentance in Action by Sue Pratt
March Prayer Focus: Practicing a lifestyle of repentance
March Leader's Letter-- Lynn Green, YWAM Chairman
REPENTANCE & AUTHORITY: A TEACHING