September 9, 2011

This week our word study and mediation focused around the word repent.  If you have ever spent any time at all in any Christ based church in the world you have heard the word repent.  But what I was taught was the meaning of the word from a small child on up, was not what the true meaning was.

 

We have been doing a lot of word studies here on TestifyBlog the past few weeks and very surprisingly when we go look at the root Greek word, it doesn’t have the same meaning that we believed it to have.  I am not sure just how the meanings of the words have become so distorted through the years, but it is vitally important that we know the truth of what is being said in the gospels, for our sake as well as others.

 

The word repent in the Greek means ‘to change your mind’.  It doesn’t mean to beg for forgiveness every time we become aware of a wrong we have committed.  It doesn’t mean for us to beat ourselves up in an effort to punish ourselves for that wrong.  It also doesn’t mean to force our behavior to change.

 

But realize this, all behavior begins in the mind with your thinking.  No action is carried out without a thought first.  It may be a lightning fast thought that we are not aware of, but the brain controls every behavior, thought and deed. 

 

Even involuntary actions were instilled in an earlier thought process.  Highly skilled martial artists learn involuntary actions by thinking, practice and repetition.

 

Let’s look at a few commonly known scriptures with the word repent in them and substitute with ‘change your mind’ and see what we get.

 

Acts 2:38

Peter replied, “Change your mind and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

Acts 8:22

Change your mind about this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

 

Acts 3:19

Change your mind, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

 

Revelation 2:16

Change your mind therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

 

Luke 24:46-49

46) and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47) and that the changing of one’s mind for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48) “You are witnesses of these things. 49) “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

 

So when you are engaging in wrong behavior, you think it is the right thing to do at the time.  Even if you know down deep inside that it isn’t right, you justify it at the time. 

 

For instance, you know you should drive the speed limit, but you justify speeding because you will be late for work.  You haven’t really changed your mind to the belief that you should not speed at all, for any reason.  You still believe it is ok to speed some of the time.

 

So when we see that the word repent means to change your mind, that is the beginning of changed behavior.  Once the light of the Word is shed on a subject and revelation knowledge is received, it changes your mind.  You then have the power and ability to live it out.

 

If you try to change your behavior only without really changing your mind, then you will not have the power to continue on the right path.  True change starts in the mind, but must drop into our spirit to bring life changing power.

 

True change comes from transformation from the inside out, by first changing your mind.

 

So today read the Word, meditate on the word and allow it to change your mind.  After being with the Father your mind will be changed.

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