“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and the he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you-even Jesus.” (Acts 3: 19-20)

Real Repentance

As humans, we all make mistakes and none of us are perfect. When high-level athletes mess up, it becomes a national news story. In the end though, they are faced with the same options as everyone else when deciding how to respond. If we truly want to repent, we have to do more than just say we are sorry.

After serving 18 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring, Michael Vick has done his best to show that he has changed. He has spoken to groups about dogfighting and has worked closely with the Humane Society. While this by no means excuses his earlier behavior, Vick is doing more than just apologizing. He is taking action to try to show his regret and prevent dogfighting from happening in the future.

Repentance starts with accepting responsibility and apologizing, but it doesn’t end there. The next step is changing how we think and act to show that we don’t want it to happen again. When we sin, we need to tell God we are sorry and then figure out what we can do differently. By making a change, we show that we really care about the sin we committed. We can also strengthen our relationship with God through this process!

God’s grace is abundant and wonderful, but we need to make sure we’re not taking it for granted.

– Joshua Doering, Sports Spectrum Reader

If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com