Repent, ME?!?

When most of us hear the word “repent”, we think of a “Fire and Brimstone” sermon. There is, however, a much deeper meaning to this word.

So what does this word really mean and where did it come from? Repent is a translation of the Greek word metanoia, which can mean a transformation of one’s outlook.

We all have times in our lives when a change of outlook may be appropriate. It may be triggered by the loss of a job, a break-up of a relationship, the death of a loved one, or some other life-altering event. The circumstance might not be one of these emotional body blows, it might just be the nagging feeling that your life is not going in the direction it should. Any of these situations can trigger the call to metanoia.

When we receive this call to metanoia, we can certainly ignore it. The other option is to pursue this call and start the process of transforming our lives.

For me, the trigger was the death of my wife of 44 years. After her death, I went through a period of deep grief and introspection. I realized during this period that my relationship with God was not as it should be. Once I realized this, I began to work on improving my relationship with God. As I did this, I found that it helped me to deal with my grief. I emerged from this period with a better relationship with God and solace from my grief.

I found that the wisdom of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew provides a step-by-step plan for achieving this transformation. I wrote my book, “The Way”, to explain this process.