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Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/5/2010 8:13:27 AM
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Prairiehiker
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What is self pity and how can you tell if what you're going through is genuine repentance or just self pity?
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Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/5/2010 8:25:44 AM
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DaveW
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Self-pity is an emotional reaction that is feeling sorrow for the position one finds one's self in.
Repentance OTOH may or may not have any emotion attached to it. It is a quality decision that what you have done is wrong and you decide to change your thoughts and actions. True repentance will bear the fruit of a changed life.
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/5/2010 8:31:24 AM
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Prairiehiker
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Can repentance happen without any emotional response to the wrong behaviour, thoughts and attitude? Can self pity lead to genuine repentance?
_____________________________
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Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/5/2010 9:56:04 AM
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rcjames
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Psalm_40
Can repentance happen without any emotional response to the wrong behaviour, thoughts and attitude?
Yes, I believe that it can, most folks are emotional, but I cannot find where one has to cry and carry on to be born again. Look to the Salvations in the Book of Acts, "And they Believed", says nothing about blubbering and carrying on.
quote:
Can self pity lead to genuine repentance?
Can self pity be part of coming to the conclusion that Christ is real; yea.
Is self pity part of being born again? Na.
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/5/2010 9:20:42 PM
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jn1010lf
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Hello Psalm_40
Self pity is a woe is me attitude, otherwise known as a pity party. It's an attempt to get sympathy but the person has no desire to change a life style, at attitude or mind set on anything.
Repentance, on the other hand, is realizing that one's life is headed in the wrong direction toward death. A person lays it all down at the feet of Jesus and heads in the direction that the Holy Spirit enlightens. In other words, it's a complete about face brought on by the true intentions of one's heart.
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 9:18:42 AM
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thiricy
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Genuine repentance I believe is when you turn away from a sin, at first, you may not feel guilt or emotions, you just know that it is sinful. Later on, people realize their sin, and the emotions may come. I might be wrong just giving my opinion
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 7:43:00 PM
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x_SoliDeoGloria_x
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Self pity focuses on the self, which is self-evident (no pun intended). A little self pity is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, if a loved one dies, I think it is better to admit and express our grief than to deny our emotions because someone might think that it is un-Christian to feel sorrow. Repentance has to do with our relationship with God, as David said in Psalm 51: "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."
_____________________________
"Not by work going before grace shall I deserve grace, nor by my work following grace shall I deserve eternal life; but to him that believes, sin is pardoned and righteousness imputed." -- Martin Luther
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 7:50:52 PM
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smiley7
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An analogy of self pity vs. repentance: You're carrying the football for a touch down against your own goal and everyone starts screaming at you to go the other way but you just stop and walk off the field or cry. Repentance is when you become aware of the problem, grab the football and start running in the opposite or correct direction.
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 7:56:53 PM
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Prairiehiker
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How about if you did something that resulted in you getting hurt and hurting other people in the process. How do you know if you're immediate reaction of regret and disgust with your behaviour is just self pity for the pain you're feeling (as in "I'll never do it again because it hurts so much) or if it's genuine repentance?
_____________________________
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Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 9:44:01 PM
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Silas_Barnaby
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I think sometimes self-pity gets a bad rap. Another question would be where does genuine sorrow stop and self-pity begin?
Also, I don't think you can just turn on repentance like a light bulb. You have to come to realize what you're doing is wrong and that may involve a process over time.
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...it is possible to be perfectly right on a superficial level, and wrong in the things that matter most in life
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/6/2010 9:58:58 PM
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x_SoliDeoGloria_x
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Psalm_40
How about if you did something that resulted in you getting hurt and hurting other people in the process. How do you know if you're immediate reaction of regret and disgust with your behaviour is just self pity for the pain you're feeling (as in "I'll never do it again because it hurts so much) or if it's genuine repentance?
Why does it matter? Are you afraid that you won't be forgiven if your repentance doesn't score enough points on some checklist to certify it as being "genuine?"
_____________________________
"Not by work going before grace shall I deserve grace, nor by my work following grace shall I deserve eternal life; but to him that believes, sin is pardoned and righteousness imputed." -- Martin Luther
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/7/2010 10:19:43 AM
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rcjames
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quote:
ORIGINAL: x_SoliDeoGloria_x
Why does it matter? Are you afraid that you won't be forgiven if your repentance doesn't score enough points on some checklist to certify it as being "genuine?"
I rekon if the person who repented commits the same sin again; then they did not repent, but lied to God.
i mean if the repentance is "Genuine" then that sin is history.
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
http://www.deliveranceofsara.com
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/7/2010 2:32:43 PM
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x_SoliDeoGloria_x
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rcjames
quote:
ORIGINAL: x_SoliDeoGloria_x
Why does it matter? Are you afraid that you won't be forgiven if your repentance doesn't score enough points on some checklist to certify it as being "genuine?"
I rekon if the person who repented commits the same sin again; then they did not repent, but lied to God.
i mean if the repentance is "Genuine" then that sin is history.
Thanks
RC
What if the person commits the same sin again five years later, or ten, or twenty? Does that mean the initial repentance was invalid all along? According to this "cease and desist" legalistic definition of repentance, does a person remain in a state of unforgiveness for a sin if he commits it again at some point before he dies? Is there any time limit at all? If there is, who decides?
_____________________________
"Not by work going before grace shall I deserve grace, nor by my work following grace shall I deserve eternal life; but to him that believes, sin is pardoned and righteousness imputed." -- Martin Luther
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/7/2010 6:40:03 PM
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rcjames
Posts: 8201
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quote:
ORIGINAL: x_SoliDeoGloria_x
quote:
I rekon if the person who repented commits the same sin again; then they did not repent, but lied to God.
i mean if the repentance is "Genuine" then that sin is history.
What if the person commits the same sin again five years later, or ten, or twenty? Does that mean the initial repentance was invalid all along?
Then they did not repent did they?
What is you definition of repentance?
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
Read the first chapter of my latest book here;
http://www.deliveranceofsara.com
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/7/2010 7:25:55 PM
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x_SoliDeoGloria_x
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rcjames
quote:
ORIGINAL: x_SoliDeoGloria_x
quote:
I rekon if the person who repented commits the same sin again; then they did not repent, but lied to God.
i mean if the repentance is "Genuine" then that sin is history.
What if the person commits the same sin again five years later, or ten, or twenty? Does that mean the initial repentance was invalid all along?
Then they did not repent did they?
What is you definition of repentance?
Thanks
RC
I think that if a person has recognized a sin in his life, has come to God and said, "I recognize that what I have done is sinful, please forgive me and help me not to sin in this way again," he has repented. For example, I may be convicted that my attitude and actions in a certain situation have reflected selfish ambition. If I recognize selfish ambition in another situation forty years later, I don't think that that nullifies my previous repentance or that I lied to God. Obviously we disagree.
Have you ever lied to God, or have you never repeated a single sin after repenting?
_____________________________
"Not by work going before grace shall I deserve grace, nor by my work following grace shall I deserve eternal life; but to him that believes, sin is pardoned and righteousness imputed." -- Martin Luther
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/7/2010 11:54:10 PM
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Walker311
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Self pity gets in the way of genuine repentance and is therefore a sin. Once this is understood and admitted, then true repentance is not so far away.
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/9/2010 12:46:02 PM
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AboundinginHisGrace
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rcjames
quote:
ORIGINAL: x_SoliDeoGloria_x
quote:
I rekon if the person who repented commits the same sin again; then they did not repent, but lied to God.
i mean if the repentance is "Genuine" then that sin is history.
What if the person commits the same sin again five years later, or ten, or twenty? Does that mean the initial repentance was invalid all along?
Then they did not repent did they?
What is you definition of repentance?
Thanks
RC
So you are saying since you have been saved you haven't commited anymore sins? That doesn't seem to line up with Rom 7.
As for grief/pity. I think when we understand who we really are then there will be some type of self pity. I think that is when we do cry out to Christ. The pity is fine as long as it leads to repentence. There are some people who are woe is me and that is sinful. But I think we should all grieve over our sin sometimes. Here is a scripture on Godly grief and wordly grief.
2 Cor 7:8-13
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted.
_____________________________
"Sin for the Christian is a burden which afflicts him rather than a pleasure which delights him." - John MacArthur
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/9/2010 1:17:42 PM
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Prairiehiker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: AboundinginHisGrace
2 Cor 7:8-13
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted.
Thank you for this verses :)
_____________________________
-------------------------------------
Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry
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RE: Self pity vs genuine repentance - 3/9/2010 1:35:26 PM
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AboundinginHisGrace
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Here is another example of someone having grief. Also the Psalms and Jeremiah's writings.
Isaiah 6:5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
_____________________________
"Sin for the Christian is a burden which afflicts him rather than a pleasure which delights him." - John MacArthur
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