What are we to do when we realize we have made the wrong decision, are going down the wrong path, or have chosen evil over righteousness?

Repent.

The message of Jesus in Mark 1:15 is as applicable today as it was when He proclaimed, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

None of us can truly embrace and believe the gospel if we refuse to repent from known convicting sin. The gospel and its good news is a replacement of lifestyle. The gospel replaces sin, it doesn’t merge with it.

We can believe in a religion, we can believe in a philosophy, or a theory without repenting of anything, but we can not believe in the gospel without repenting of sin.

However, don’t fall into the opposite error of thinking that we must first regain purity or attain perfection before we actually repent. Repentance means that we change course on sin, it means we halt sinful behavior, and it means we turn from our worldly way to live the biblical way.

Yes, we are going to stumble, fail, or fall short of our Lord’s righteousness, but by the power of the Savior we keep our sights in a heavenly direction so as we find ourselves flat our face we turn toward His grace to get back up.

Repenting means we turn from sinful immediate choices of sight and start walking a long-term journey by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), it means we turn from sinful thinking and become transformed by the renewing of our minds fixed on our Savior (Romans 12:2), and it means we turn from our self-doubts and we plead God’s faithfulness in forgiving our sins and cleansing from our unrighteous habits (1 John 1:9).

The bottom line is that when our life is unbecoming to us, we need to be coming to Jesus in repentance and belief in the gospel.

Read Good News, Bad News for more inspiration.