Repentance BROKEN LAW AND BROKEN HEART
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Isa. 53:5.
When I was in seventh grade I attended a school in Michigan that had one room with thirteen students in eight grades. Our teacher was only 17 years old. It was her first year of teaching. She loved us and did the best she could for us. She knew how to teach, but she had a problem keeping law and order. In fact, about halfway through the school year the school board met to consider seriously whether to allow her to finish the year.
The students seemed gradually to lose respect for her. Students like to know what their limits are, and they began to criticize her instead of thinking of all that she had done for us. One day after school as I was starting home, I met some students below the classroom window, talking about how they didn't like the teacher and hoped that she would leave. When everyone else is talking about how they don't like the teacher, guess what you do? Have you even been in that situation? Peer pressure, they call it. So I chimed right in. "That's right, she's no good. I don't like her either." Just as I said it, I looked up through the open window above. Our teacher was standing behind the piano where she didn't think she could be seen. Her face was pointed downward, and the tears were dropping to the floor. I'll never forget the look of hopeless despair on her face that day.
I tore myself from the scene and headed home. I kept seeing that face. The disappointment of someone who had done the best she could for me was too much. I didn't sleep well that night. I kept remembering how at Christmas time she had bought every one of of us a worthwhile gift. She had gone out of her way to be friends with each of us. She loved to read stories after lunch. She had done so many things for me, and I had disappointed her. The next day I had to sit down and write a note telling her I was sorry. I really was sorry. Why? Because I had done something more than break a rule. I had broken someone's heart. There's a difference, isn't there?
Genuine repentance comes only in the setting of a one-to-one personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. When the reality of that friendship is recognized, and we see that our sins have broken His heart, then it is that our own hearts break.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Isa. 53:5.
When I was in seventh grade I attended a school in Michigan that had one room with thirteen students in eight grades. Our teacher was only 17 years old. It was her first year of teaching. She loved us and did the best she could for us. She knew how to teach, but she had a problem keeping law and order. In fact, about halfway through the school year the school board met to consider seriously whether to allow her to finish the year.
The students seemed gradually to lose respect for her. Students like to know what their limits are, and they began to criticize her instead of thinking of all that she had done for us. One day after school as I was starting home, I met some students below the classroom window, talking about how they didn't like the teacher and hoped that she would leave. When everyone else is talking about how they don't like the teacher, guess what you do? Have you even been in that situation? Peer pressure, they call it. So I chimed right in. "That's right, she's no good. I don't like her either." Just as I said it, I looked up through the open window above. Our teacher was standing behind the piano where she didn't think she could be seen. Her face was pointed downward, and the tears were dropping to the floor. I'll never forget the look of hopeless despair on her face that day.
I tore myself from the scene and headed home. I kept seeing that face. The disappointment of someone who had done the best she could for me was too much. I didn't sleep well that night. I kept remembering how at Christmas time she had bought every one of of us a worthwhile gift. She had gone out of her way to be friends with each of us. She loved to read stories after lunch. She had done so many things for me, and I had disappointed her. The next day I had to sit down and write a note telling her I was sorry. I really was sorry. Why? Because I had done something more than break a rule. I had broken someone's heart. There's a difference, isn't there?
Genuine repentance comes only in the setting of a one-to-one personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. When the reality of that friendship is recognized, and we see that our sins have broken His heart, then it is that our own hearts break.
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