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PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Help with Love

Gracious Lord,
As men it is easy to avoid talking about love, as we have a tendency to downplay things like feelings and emotions as not being very masculine. Yet Jesus himself was emotional! Jesus also calls us to love – both God and our neighbor. And, it is Jesus who first loved us, which then fuels us to love others. Help me to overcome any discomfort I may have around the topic of love, to embrace your call to love, and to daily put it into practice. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Blessing of Work

Dear Lord,
For many, Monday marks the beginning of the work week. It can be challenging to shift back into gear for work after being off for the weekend. Instead of dreading Mondays, lead us to be grateful for them as reminders of the blessing of employment. Use us in our workplace to let our light shine and to be of service to others. Fill us with determination to give our best, remembering that we are ultimately serving you through our work.

Others are without work or facing the uncertainty of being let go or cut back. Assure them of your ongoing promise to provide for their needs. Open doors of possibility either for them to maintain their current employment or find it elsewhere. Help all of us this week to see work as your gift to us, and our faithful labor as our thank you to you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Hallow Your Name

Almighty Father,
Sundays are sacred. On this day of the week, believers all over the world gather together around your Word so that you may feed their faith and strengthen their spirits. 

Yet the daily battle against my sinful nature so often seems to intensify on this day! My flesh wishes me to forsake worship and succumb instead to one of so many other enticing options. 

Give me the resolve to commit to the one thing that matters, that I might be forgiven and refreshed for the week ahead. Help me to hallow your name by hearing your Word along with your people in your house on this day. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Pray More

Every-present Father,
You have wonderfully created us with an innate desire to provide solutions and fix problems when we encounter them. What a blessing this can be at times! However, it can also leave us reluctant to ask for help, not only from others, but also from you.

You invite us to call on you in the day of trouble and promise to answer us. Lead me to take advantage of this invitation by seeking you out in prayer more frequently. Instill in me the desire to crave your counsel and guidance in my life more often. Draw me into your Word so that I know what to pray for, and through it develop and deepen my prayer life so that I – along with others – may be abundantly blessed by your answers to our prayers. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be Real

Heavenly Father,
In an effort to impress, we often present a pretend version of ourselves to others. We attempt to hide our flaws by highlighting our feats. We distract others from our shortcomings by redirecting them to our successes. We are insecure and afraid of not being respected. 

Forgive us for being overly concerned with the thoughts and opinions of others to the degree that we would ever compromise our integrity. When we know who we are in you, we can be real with others. We can let go of the self-imposed pressure of trying to measure up. We can let others see the real us – the forgiven fakes and purified pretenders, who are now free to be real.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Properly Placed Confidence

Lord God,
So much in our lives revolves around performance and productivity. These metrics also tend to serve as points of comparison when we wish to see how we measure up against other guys. 

Guard our hearts from allowing such metrics to also serve as a basis for determining where we stand with you. Such a path can only result in one of two pitfalls: overconfident pharisaism or insecure despair. 

Instead, lead us always to look to your cross for confidence. Your life was not a performance; it was perfection. While your death appeared to be anything but productive, by it and by your resurrection you brought about eternal life for us. Assure us that through you alone we stand forgiven. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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Keep me from being judgmental

God of all grace,
The world is filled with judgment and condemnation. I, too, am guilty of standing in judgment of others without being fully aware of their situation or charitably assuming the best of their words and actions. 

Yet in your mercy, you do not treat me the same way. Instead of judging me as I deserve, you justify – declare me “not guilty” – on account of Jesus! 

Through your forgiveness, fill my heart with your charity and grace. Grant me the patience to avoid rushing into judgement of others before understanding the whole picture. In a judgmental world that is too comfortable tearing down, use me instead to build up and encourage others.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Real Assurance

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(1 John 3:18-24)

We are no strangers to pharmaceutical companies promoting the latest ground-breaking medication or treatment for everything under the sun in commercials filled with active people living their best lives filled with joyful smiles. Of course the commercials all end with the same disclaimer, listing every possible side-effect from those that are inconvenient up to and including some that may even be life-threatening. 

But perhaps what is more commonly overlooked is that oftentimes in the commercial, the intended results of the medication or treatment cannot make the reliable claim that it will work in all the people all of the time. Instead, the results are couched in language that indicates possibility without making promises. “Some participants experienced positive results.” “A certain percentage of those treated noticed a difference.” “Patients may respond well to the treatment.” Whatever the language, rarely is there a guarantee that something is effective all of the time. In fact, it isn’t just pharmaceutical companies; we’ve gotten used to products across the board the really do nothing more than offer the possibility of improvement in one way or another.

While that may be the new norm for a culture who is used to being marketed to nonstop, there’s one area that we cannot ever find peace in merely the possibility of or high percentages. We cannot rest easy unless nothing but a full guarantee is provided. Only REAL assurance will do. To what am I referring? Our status before God. 

John grabs our attention as those interested in this assurance with a phrase from our verses. He addresses how we can “set our hearts at rest in his presence” (v.19). That’s what we want! That’s what we’re after! The peace of mind of not having to worry if we should be stressed in his presence, but can be confident of rest in his presence. We don’t want guesses. Not wishful thinking. Not possibility. Just real assurance. And it’s found only in Christ.

Outside of Christianity, optimism and possibility are the best offers anyone will find. Like the pharmaceutical companies, the best other religions can offer is possibility if you’ve lived a good enough life or tried hard enough. Maybe a higher being or god will be satisfied enough. But only Christianity says that’s not good enough. You can be assured of being at peace with God. You can be confident that your soul has every reason to be at rest in his presence – because of Jesus Christ.

Now that we’re paying attention to John, we’re listening to what he says next to find out how our hearts can be at rest in his presence. He writes, “If our hearts condemn us” (v.20). Doesn’t that apply to us all? We all have or even right now are dealing with heart that condemns us.

And there are different reasons for that. If your heart condemns you, in many cases there is probably a reason why! You’ve probably done or thought or said something deserving of such condemnation! When we did something wrong, when we broke a rule, our conscience accuses us. We know we weren’t entirely truthful with our spouse, and so our heart condemns us. That’s what the conscience does.

But it’s not just always because we’ve done something wrong. Sometimes our hearts go over the top in tearing us down. They convict us with feelings of guilt. Feelings of shame. Feelings of inadequacy. Feelings of insecurity. They’re all there, sometimes justifiably; other times not. But while your heart doesn’t care why those feelings or emotions are there, it definitely will make sure that you’re aware of them. That’s what John meant by the phrase, “If our hearts condemn us” (v.20).

We show that we recognize when our hearts accuse and condemn us because we try to address it. I could try to pretend what I did wasn’t that bad – but my own heart won’t be fooled. I could try to rationalize my wrong to someone else, but I still know why I really did it. I could try to shift the blame entirely onto someone else, but it would still linger because that never entirely lets me off the hook. I can try to imagine that God doesn’t really exist or that there’s no such thing as sin or wrong doing, but there’s too much in the world that seems to indicate otherwise. If so many billions have been convinced that there is a God, can I really be so confident that they’re all wrong and I am in the very small minority who is right? No, there is nothing we can do to get to that place of having a heart that is free of self-condemnation. 

John had an answer for when our hearts condemn us, as he continued, “If our hearts condemn us we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (v.20). God knows everything. Wait, God knows everything??? How is that a comfort for when my heart condemns me? You mean I cannot hide from God what I think I can hide from my parent, my teacher, my spouse, my friend, anything that God doesn’t already know about? How terrifying! How is that a comfort that God knows everything?

Because God knows something else that is even more important that all the sin that we could never hide from him. He knows the solution to that sin because he himself is the solution to that sin. It was John who quoted Jesus in his Gospel with saying that very thing! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…” (John 3:16-18). Whoever believes is not condemned. Believing in Jesus = no condemnation! I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of confident assurance I want before God! Jesus didn’t come into this world to condemn me but to rescue me.  

That’s why John emphasized the need for faith in Jesus in the verses from 1 John. He wants us to realize how and why we can actually be in a place of confidence before God where our hearts don’t actually condemn us. There is only one path that ends up in that place, and John highlights it in verse 23. “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.” Believe in Jesus Christ, and you are no longer condemned. That’s his command. So if we think God is most concerned with how we live or how we behave, we’re missing what matters most: what we believe and who we believe in for our assurance. Believing in the Son means we have assurance that we do not stand condemned before God.

Imagine if you had that level of confidence in approaching your boss about a concern or a request. Imagine having that level of confidence about a tough conversation you need to have with your spouse. Imagine having that level of confidence with the officer approaching your driver’s side window who just pulled you over.

With God, you don’t have to imagine, you just believe, and it’s the reality! You know exactly where you stand before a holy and righteous God thorugh faith in Christ Jesus. And where you stand is “not condemned.”

Not condemned.

Living in this kind of real assurance of eternal life is also one of the most freeing things a person could ever experience. And what does it change us to do? “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (v.18). Real assurance means we can be real with others. There’s enough that’s fake in this world. There are enough pretenders. Yes, sometimes it’s us, too. We scroll past them on social media. We see them on the news. We get emails from them. We don’t need more artificial intelligence, but more real assurance. When we find that real assurance in Christ, we can then be real with others. Often times that means we can go beyond words, as John encourages us, and make a real difference with actions and truth.

To better appreciate what this means, let’s start by acknowledging how exceptional we are at manipulating words. For example, in an effort to soften the blow or avoid conflict or more pressure from someone else, even though we are virtually 100% committed to not following through or attending, we tell others we’ll try or see if we can make it work or get back to you. Be honest – those are empty words. They mean nothing and carry no weight, and we really only throw them around pretending we’ve let ourselves off the hook. We use verbal sleight of hand to avoid the words that would more accurately reflect what we actually mean.

Instead of all of that, we can be honest about what we really mean by speaking the truth. We can spend more time in action instead of a lot of mental time hiding our intentions or wishes with verbal camouflage. And where we struggle in any of these areas, let us take advantage of the added blessing that comes with the real assurance we have in Christ: the privilege of prayer.

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask…” (v.21-22). Because we have complete assurance of where we stand before God, we also have direct access to God, with the added promise that he will hear and answer our prayers. When we ask of God what God wants for us and others, he’ll grant it.

And guess what? God just made it clear what he wants for us and others: to love with actions and truth instead of words or speech. If that’s what God wants and our prayers are tied to making that happen, then count on God coming through. In other words, if you genuinely want to grow in loving others with real action and in truth instead of being fake or pretend, you need only to ask. The God who assures you that he hasn’t condemned you also assures you that he will complete your requests. Unlike the website that times out or the app that cannot complete the requested action, God hears – and answers – your prayers. Really.

That’s the blessing of real assurance. If you want it, stop paying attention to your heart. Don’t listen to it. Don’t follow it. Don’t let it guide you. God is greater than your heart, and he says what your heart can never know on its own: in Jesus Christ, you are not condemned. Believe it, it’s true. Then, go live in that truth by putting your faith and love into real action. 

Real Threats

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(1 John 4:1-6)

Whether you’re driving around a relatively new car or still chugging along in one that’s been around for a decade or two, chances are good that you’ve had the opportunity to become familiar with the dash board indicators that light up when something is wrong. When those light up, indicating that something has failed or needs maintenance, it’s probably best to schedule an appointment with the mechanic sooner rather than later. The mechanic can then run a diagnostic test to determine with more precision exactly what needs to be fixed. Then he can put together a plan and estimate to let you know how much he’s going to overcharge you to fix it 😁.

No matter how much you may dislike car trouble or dealing with mechanics, it would be foolish to ignore the warning and just keep driving your car. Doing so would likely cause more damage or could even end up leaving the vehicle unable to be driven. The indicators are there for a reason. They tell you something’s wrong so that it can be tested and fixed.

Car trouble is one thing. Spiritual trouble is quite another. Even in a worst-case scenario when it comes to your car, you could manage to get by without it for a time by depending on others.

But that’s not the case spiritually. The ramifications of spiritual trouble going unchecked or neglected are potentially eternal. So John provides us with a warning that is to be taken very seriously – and not to be avoided or put off the way we might an auto repair. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (v.1). 

With he uses the word “spirits,” it might sound as if John’s writing belongs in a Halloween story involving ghosts and spooky things. However, that’s not the use of the word spirit that John is employing here. With that term he means to include any and all groups or individuals that claim any sort of religious responsibility or authority. Examples of this today could include the online promo for this conference or that webinar sponsored by such and such ministries. Or any book or devotional by an author with a faith-related theme or goal. Or a clip or YouTube Channel of someone preaching or teaching anything from Scripture. Any group or individual speaking on a biblical topic/theme is included with that term spirit.

Why does it matter that we test these spirits? Two reasons: 1) they aren’t all from God, and 2) there are “many false prophets.” 

There is a clear conclusion we need to draw about every spirit that is not from God. If a spirit is not from God, then where is it from? Don’t be fooled into thinking there is some wide range of answers to this question. There are no teachers in this category (those who are not from God) who are more harmless or less harmless than others. This isn’t a multiple choice question. If a teaching is not from God, then it is harmful, because it is from only one other place, from the one who opposes God: Satan. John later identifies this type of teaching as “the spirit of the antichrist” (v.3). 

And lest we think this might just be a case of a few bad apples ruining the whole bunch, John’s warning clarifies that there are “many false prophets [who have] gone out into the world” (v.1). What does that mean when it comes to the discernment we exercise in listening to other religious authors/teachers/singers/preachers? Perhaps a little more caution is in order. Maybe rather than simply presuming that we’re in safe waters every time the words “Christian/church/faith/pastor/etc.” are involved, our first step ought to be to exercise caution and tread lightly. 

While I was growing up in our WELS, it was generally frowned upon to read books or use materials that were not produced by our own WELS Northwestern Publishing House. While that sentiment isn’t as wide-spread today as it was then, the longer I’ve been in ministry, the better I understand the reason for that concern (especially given the circumstances of that time – our church body was navigating the waters of having officially declared ourselves to no longer be in fellowship with another Lutheran church body that had a different spirit about it than it had in the past when we shared a common blessed unity and fellowship for many decades). False prophets that stand in opposition to God are everywhere.

And if they are everywhere, that means you also have a responsibility to test me. Yes, I have been called by Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran to be a pastor, under shepherd to the Good Shepherd. Yes, I have received some of the best theological training available at our Martin Luther College and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Yes, I have twenty years of pastoral ministry under my belt this year. And yes… I am also capable of falling into the very category of spirits John is warning you about. So when he says to test the spirits, I must be included among them. 

But you might be feeling inadequate. After all, who are you to be qualified to do such a thing? That’s where you do well to follow the rest of the guidance John provides. “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God” (v.2-3).

There is a specific doctrinal teaching here, the incarnation, which refers to the Bible’s teaching that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. However, we are not doing a disservice to John’s words here to stretch that teaching to include anything and everything about Jesus Christ. If God in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ is the litmus test John wants us to use to identify real threats, then every teaching that pertains to Jesus Christ is fair game to help us expose threats. And by extension, since the whole reason we have the Bible is so that it can point us to Jesus, then all of Scripture is useful in helping us steer clear of those spirits that are not from God. 

It’s like pulling a thread on a sweater. It doesn’t matter where you pull the thread from. The sleeve. The collar. The front or back. The hem. Wherever you start to pull on that thread, eventually it will do damage to the whole sweater.

So it is with Scripture. Any attack on Scripture is an attack on Jesus. Therefore, any attack, any false teaching that is unchecked, will eventually undermine the whole point of the Bible – to show us our salvation in Jesus.

That is a tall order! There is so much contained in the Bible and so many different ways it could be twisted or maligned. How can we ever really know for sure if what we’re hearing or reading is true or false? 

You’re more qualified than you may know. If you’ve ever been to a professional theater production of a popular play or musical, you know what it means once the lights start to dim. It’s exciting because you know the show is about to start!

But did you ever stop to think why the lights are dimmed in a production like that? Wouldn’t more light – not less – enable everyone to better see everything that’s happening on the stage? One might think so.

However, depending on where everyone is seated in the audience, it’s not always easy to clearly see which actors are doing the speaking or singing. But when the lights are dimmed, it allows the spotlight to draw everyone’s attention to the appropriate actors carrying out the dialogue or song. The audience isn’t left scanning the stage to try and figure out which actor is speaking at any given time. The spotlight makes that obvious.

It’s also how we identify spirits that aren’t from God. When someone’s teaching, speaking, singing, preaching, etc. does not shine the spotlight on Jesus Christ, it is a different spirit. Take caution. Be aware. When the spotlight isn’t on Jesus, that ought to give us pause. 

And to be more precise, I don’t just mean paying lip service to Jesus, as if he gets a few mentions here and there. Specifically, I mean proclaiming the good news that Jesus Christ is our Savior from sin. He became man (here’s why the incarnation matters…) so that as one bound to the same law that we are all bound to, he could keep it perfectly for us. He became man so that he could die, and by his death on the cross suffer not only physical, but also the spiritual punishment our sins deserved. Though he himself was without sin, he took our sin upon himself so that real payment for sin could be offered up. And in this season of Easter, we celebrate that he really rose in that same physical body. That means that the payment for sin has been accepted by the Father and the sentence of eternal death has already been served for us. We have nothing to fear!

When that Jesus is not central to the message of anyone you are listening to, then it’s time to tune that message out. And whatever confidence we lack in being able to do so is restored to us through the Resurrection, which proves to us how powerful God is. Listen to John’s encouragement. “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (v.4-6). 

Our confidence comes in knowing that through Jesus Christ, God has overcome. He is greater than the evil one running roughshod over the world. That confidence allows John to implore his audience to keep listening to him. That isn’t arrogance on John’s part, but rather a confidence that his message is always going to be centered on Jesus Christ our Savior. 

As it will be here on this site and in my preaching. I know that because it is the promise I made (along with all pastors in our church body) when I was ordained into the pastoral ministry. We make a promise to remain faithful to the Scriptures and what they teach as confessed in our Book of Concord. That promise is no more and no less than faithfully preaching and teaching Jesus Christ lived, died, and risen as our Savior.

And I am confident that Jesus will continue to be my main message because here his sheep know his voice and long to hear it. Ears will perk up if some voice that does not belong to the Good Shepherd begins to be heard. So then, never tire of listening to the Good Shepherd’s voice. Hear it frequently, announcing your forgiveness in the absolution and Supper, and claiming you as his very own sheep through the water of baptism. For so long as you listen to his voice and believe it, you have nothing to fear.

Real Repentance

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(1 John 1:5-2:2)

Even if you didn’t have your special glasses to watch the solar eclipse, unless you live in a cave or under a rock, you surely heard about it or saw pictures of it online. People made plans to travel to other states to get the best possible experience with such a rare phenomenon. While California only had about 35% coverage, there were other states in the path of totality that were able to witness the sun being covered up entirely at different times of the day. 

It’s one thing for the sun to be blotted out momentarily to reveal an eerie darkness, but could you imagine if the world was like that all the time? I’m not just talking about the gray skies and gloom sometimes associated with the Pacific Northwest or the Midwest, but actual darkness because of a lack of light. Not only would our mental health be affected, but some of the very basic, fundamental errands and day-to-day activities would be much more difficult with less light.

It’s our own experiences with light and dark that help us relate to the distinction John is makes in the verses from 1 John, where he connects God with light and unbelieving sin with darkness.

What is it that bridges the gab between darkness and light? Repentance. Even though the word itself isn’t used in these verses from John, repentance is nonetheless described. The basic meaning of repentance is to turn around. The Bible uses the term in primarily two ways, which have been called the wide sense and the narrow sense.

At times when we hear Peter or Paul preaching, they exhort their hearers to repent and believe. That is the wide sense of repentance. It is another way of referring to a person coming to faith. When repentance happens in that sense, a person has been converted from unbelief to faith in Jesus as Savior.

The narrow sense of repentance is more specific. It refers to the recurring process that has been described as having three steps: 1) contrition (“sorrow”) that confesses sin, 2) faith that believes Jesus has forgiven that sin, and 3) a change of heart/mindset that seeks to struggle against that sin in the future and aims to overcome it.

For most of us reading this, repentance in the wide sense has probably already taken place – the Holy Spirit has converted us from the darkness of unbelief to the light of faith in Jesus. But repentance in the narrow sense will never stop taking place in our lives. It is an ongoing practice. That activity is both made possible by the resurrection of Jesus, which guarantees our forgiveness, and is fueled by it as well. We wish to remain in God’s light, and real repentance keeps us there. 

Why is repentance so important to John? Because it is essential to achieving one of his goals in writing this letter. He stated as clearly as it could possibly be stated in verse one of chapter two: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” John wants what God wants: to put a stop to sinning. Here’s a question for you to wrestle with: do you want what John wants? Do you want what God wants? Do you want to stop sinning?

I assume that almost everyone reading this knows the answer to that question. Absolutely we are supposed to want to stop sinning! Duh! No brainer, right? 

Except that we aren’t made up of just a mind. We have hearts, too, and our hearts have this nasty tendency to reveal our true colors. Our hearts expose us. Our hearts convict us. Our hearts give away the truth that our lives are riddled with countless examples of times that our actions clearly demonstrated that we were not interested in putting a stop to sin. 

I know I shouldn’t do this or that… as I proceed to carry it out. I know exactly the circumstances, the scenario, the conditions, that lend themselves to engaging in this sin or that one, and I do nothing to safeguard against them. I spend more time thinking through how I will either hide or get away with a certain sin than I do battling against it. I slip back into the damnable lie that convinces me that because God is all-forgiving, I have nothing to fear, because an all-forgiving God has bound himself to forgive me no matter what, so I’m in the clear. Consider how much premeditation goes into our sinning and ask yourself if that’s a reflection of a genuine desire to stop.

Then consider the other end of the sin. It has already been committed. It is in the past. When we perform the postmortem, what do we see?

How do you respond when either your own conscience or another person calls out your sin? Do you remorsefully spill the beans and spiral into feelings of shame and regret because you can’t believe you did it yet again, even though you want so badly to stop? Hopefully that is our response at least some of the time!

But we also handle it another way. We deflect the accusation and with calculated precision detail all of the factors beyond our control that took place and led to the sin, masterfully attempting to shift the blame where we feel it really ought to be. We resort to personal attacks against the one who would have the gall to point out our sin. Maybe we just go with one of the oldest standbys of all: deny it. When you look at how you tend to respond to your sin being pointed out to you, is your response really a reflection of a genuine desire to stop – or just a genuine desire for the other person to stop accusing you?

How we love the darkness! How steeped in it we truly are! God help us! God save us! God rescue us from eternal darkness!

Good news – he has!

Listen again to John. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1:5). In God alone is there not even the slightest speck of darkness! Only light! So if someone, if something is going to save us from the darkness, it can’t be ourselves or anyone else who is only steeped in darkness. No, it must be someone who is only light, one from whom light emanates. One who can overcome the darkness and not be overcome by it. 

Because that is what light does. Light exposes and dispels the darkness. It’s never the other way around. Darkness cannot cover or hide the light. We can wear a pair of sunglasses to protect us from the bright sun, but those sunglasses don’t actually lessen the light at all – the sun shines just as brightly whether we’re wearing them or not!

Sin puts up a wall of darkness between God and us, but his light still shines regardless. That light will expose the darkness of our sin, but darkness will never put out the light. Therefore, we need to confess that darkness of sin that separates us from his light so that we can be rejuvenated by it. How comforting! His light is always shining. We need only to remove the covering from our eyes. We need only to confess our sins and then we see the light again. 

That’s repentance. It calls out the darkness of sins and shows a much better way – the light of God, the forgiveness and grace that emanate only from him. That repentance is real because of the reality of the resurrection. Had the dead body of Jesus Christ remained in the tomb; had the stone remained intact to shut out the light and keep the tomb covered in the darkness of death and sin, then the light would have been snuffed out. Then darkness and the one who reigns in darkness would have been victorious. 

But Easter really happened! The Resurrection is real!

So then, is your repentance. We take our darkest sins to the source of all light and see what he does with them. Look at how many different ways John describes what God does with that sin! “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (v.7). “He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (v.9). “[Jesus Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (2:2). See what the Light does to the darkness of sin?!? Sin doesn’t stand a chance!

So let’s keep killing sin. Let’s repent – really. If sin is a part of our day-to-day lives – and it is! – then let’s also make repentance a part of our day-to-day lives. Whether it’s when you wake up every morning, go to bed at night, or as often as it might happen somewhere in-between, let’s be intentional and very conscious of killing our sin by repenting of it and letting the Light decimate it and destroy it, leaving nothing but purity and righteousness in its place.

When that becomes a regular part of our daily routine, the benefits are ongoing, because repentance rewires your heart. It just does.

It’s a terrible thing when a corrupt church or teacher twists the Bible to make forgiveness into some conditional arrangement wherein a person is only forgiven if certain stipulations are met. The rationale behind that foolishness is that if everyone is freely forgiven without any conditions or requirements, then people will just keep sinning and live however they want. 

But that reasoning sells grace and the power of the gospel too short. Instead, what happens when real repentance becomes a regular part of our daily routine is that it renews and rewires our hearts. The more the darkness is exposed, the less appeal and power it has. Instead, the light becomes far more attractive. Not sinning becomes a genuine desire. Walking in Jesus’ footsteps makes our heart sing. Blessing others through our obedience satisfies our hearts. Doing that which brings delight to God fills our hearts with joy. Living in the light and embracing the fellowship we have with not only the God who himself is light, but also others who walk in the light – that’s when we’ve arrived. That’s what matters. That’s the real deal. That’s real repentance.