“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.
Isaiah 1:18

Today, we’re going to start a five part series that will teach us how and what to repent. We call it “20 Repentances.”  Our preachers tell us to repent. Our teachers tell us to repent. Most importantly, the Bible tells us to repent. We know repenting is a big part of being a Christian, but sometime it’s hard to figure out where to start and how to do it. So, let’s start here. Let’s repent these twenty things, which are divided into five parts: God, Bible, People, Events, and Material Things. The first section covers things we can repent regarding God.

One. Repent the sin of not fearing only God. Fear only God!
There are many things to fear in this world. We can fear people and objects. We can fear death and pain. We can fear things in our control and out of control. What do you fear? What makes you scared? The first thing to repent is a big one. If you fear anything except God, now is the time to repent. Let that sink in. Of all the things in the world of which to be afraid, you must only fear God. Repent if you have feared anyone or anything else. Why must we fear only God? He is the Origin. He knows all things and has sovereignty over the blessings and calamities of life. He is a part of every person, object, and event we encounter in life. God is the only One we should fear because is He is omnipotent and omniscient. Look back at the things you feared most. After understanding true fear, we realize there’s nothing to fear! By the complete transformation of our fears, what we feared in the past when excluding God, no longer frightens us. We fear things because of God. We treat people and interact with the world with this fear of God as a bedrock for all our deeds.

Two. Repent the sin of not loving only God. Love only God!
What about family? What about my husband or wife? What about my children? Does it make sense to love only God? We must love each other through the love of God. This is a love loved due to God. When we possess this unitarian and monistic love that arises from God, this love is unchangeable, and God works as life inside this love. We love whatever God loves, and God loves all things. There are times you feel overwhelmed with hate for your brother or wife or husband. Nothing can overpower this emotion except for recognizing and acknowledging God’s command to love. A family formed by God’s love appears to shatter a thousand times. From the outside, it looks horrendous. But a family tied together through God’s love only becomes stronger. When faced with adversity, they pray more fervently. They become stronger through God. So, we must repent loving other things while pushing God out of the picture.

Three. Repent the sin of not looking only to God. Look only to God!
“Look to” means to hope. Children look to their parents, husbands look to their wives and vice versa, friends look to each other, citizens look to their government, and a country looks to its citizens. Where are all your hopes and dreams? What do you look to for happiness or peace or prosperity or for  living a good life? Do you look outside of God? If you do, now is the time to repent. Are you looking to improve your marriage? Are you looking to improve your damaged relationships? Are you looking to make a better living? Look no further than God. If we look only to God, this omniscient and omnipotent Person takes responsibility for us. He is our Father. Look only to God and He will do all that is necessary for us! Hope only in God and everything else will fall into place.

Four. Repent the sin of undiscriminating obedience. Obey only God!
Yes, we must obey our parents, our teachers, and good advice from friends, but obeying only God is a recognition that we obey those things that originate from God regardless of the vessel that relays those commands. It could be your parents, teacher, or boss. If those commands do not originate from God, we must not obey. Therefore, we have unity in obedience. Unitarian obedience means we obey the commands that arise from the Origin God. Because His commands appear through vessels and are relayed through those vessels, we must recognize it as God’s command regardless of how God has manifested those commands. We must stop the bad habit of listening to others when they have nothing to do with God. We must break the bad habit of listening to our Old Selves when he or she has nothing to do with God. From this moment on, obey only God!

Repent your sins regarding God! The first part of “Twenty Repentances” focuses on our relationship with God. Fear only God! Love only God! Look only to God! Obey only God! If we repent these four things, we grow closer to God and improve our relationship with God.

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