Never Go Back

783 Words4 Pages
Never Go Back People think of “repentance” as having to do with a parent, preacher, nun, or teacher scolding them and saying, “Don’t ever do that again!” It is a religious term with a lot of cultural baggage. It feels like a parent or authority figure telling you to stop doing something, and then you feel like you just have to do it. ------------------------------------------------- BY: Dr. Henry Cloud People think of “repentance” as having to do with a parent, preacher, nun, or teacher scolding them and saying, “Don’t ever do that again!” It is a religious term with a lot of cultural baggage. It feels like a parent or authority figure telling you to stop doing something, and then you feel like you just have to do it. That is a problem. The reason is this: whenever we get our backs up at a message that says we should not do something again, it shows that we are out of touch with life’s realities. Picture a parent telling a toddler to “repent” from running into the busy street. The toddler just looks at the parent as if the message or the messenger is the problem, sets his face in determination, and says, “Just watch me.” Dangerous indeed. Such is the nature of the word “repentance.” Repentance is the adult equivalent of stopping at the curb and making sure no cars are coming before you cross the street—especially an adult who has experienced the reality of being hit by a car once before because she didn’t look. It is the realization that she does not want to do that again. It is not going to feel good. It felt really bad last time and it will feel bad again. And the realization of and commitment to that reality are stronger than the need, desire, or impulse to do it; so we are forever changed. We are no longer people who run into the street or hire the wrong person when we knew better—losing a lot of money, time, and energy in the process. We have repented, or
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