Right Acts, Wrong Reasons

Peter was a man who was not well-liked. Like the character of Scrooge, in the Charles Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol," Peter's life held no such positive turnaround. He was a bitter man who never had a kind word for any one, was stingy and selfish.

No one knows for certain why Peter began to soften and appear to have a change of heart, but those people he had hurt or touched in a negative way were glad to see some new shreds of civility and decency in Peter, who was now approaching his sixtieth year upon the face of the earth.

As word of Peter's more gentle attitude got out, people Peter had wronged began to approach him in hopes of some sort of apology or peace settlement.

"Do you remember me?" asked one elderly gentleman, "My dog's barking irritated you so you threw a rock at our window."

Peter looked the man in the face and replied,"Oh yes. That was unfortunate about your window. Here's fifty dollars to cover the cost of replacing it." Peter smiled wryly, tipped his hat and continued walking down the street.

Shortly after, a young girl approached him,"Sir, do you know me? You shoved me aside last week so you could pass me on the sidewalk. Look. I'm wearing the same torn dress," stated the young child who had a look of pity in her eyes.

Reaching into his pocket, Peter handed the girl a twenty dollar bill, patted her on the head, and continued walking on until he came to his home.

The remainder of Peter's three years on earth was spent in much the same way. Peter was feeling some regret toward the wrongful actions of his past, and in his attempt to settle the score, especially as the end of his life was approaching, this was the only way he knew how. Poor Peter would never come to know the peace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Real life application:

Many people confuse repentance with regret. While regret is indeed a part of repentance, it does not come close to the biblical concept of the type of inner transformation true repentance entails.

Regret means being sorry. It is easy to be sorry for the wrong reasons though. I may be sorry because my wrong deed resulted in unexpected consequences, rather like the child who gets spanked for purposely breaking a window, whose regret has more to do with the upcoming probable spanking than with any sense of the wrong he committed. Slightly more nobly, I may be sorry because of the hurt my behavior caused to somebody else. It is right and proper to be sorry in such cases, but it still doesn't go far enough.

True repentance means being sorry for our wrongful behavior for the right reasons, not because I got caught and punished, and not even primarily because innocent persons were hurt, but because it was simply wrong. Not because the results were wrong, but because the action itself was fundamentally wrong.

Being sorry, even for the right reasons, is by no means all there is to repentance. True repentance involves a complete change of heart about what happened, a complete renunciation of the sin. It means a commitment to make a complete break with what I did that was wrong; a resolution never to commit the same deed again.

Repentance also means facing up to what we have done wrong and not trying to sugar-coat our own participation by blaming our sins on others. There is no such thing as repentance without facing our sin personally, honestly and squarely, and without making a sincere effort to make right with the person we have wronged or hurt, promising the Lord that if our paths ever cross, we'll do what we can to make things right. The words, "I'm sorry. I was wrong," can be like a gift of the finest gold. So, too, can we prove the contents of our heart by simply being living examples of our renewed spiritual transformation, being the barer of light, rather than darkness.

The character in the above story tried to remedy the wrongs he had committed. It was a noble effort in many ways, especially as compared to the life he had led earlier, for true repentance must include making reparations where possible. But his attempts centered on buying himself into the good graces of his victims. Just as salvation cannot be bribed or bought, neither can true repentance.

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Contributed by Melanie Schurr (Copyright (c)2003 Melanie Schurr) Melanie Schurr is author of "Ecstatic Living Ecstatic Loving: How to have more peace and joy in marriage, and life in general by walking in harmony with God," and "Son Salutations: A refreshing collection of modern inspirations for those who seek God each day." For more information, visit her web page at www.angelfire.com/mi/melschurr