"Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of the world, and repent of your sin?"
Psalm 51:10
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a strong spirit within me."
Did you ever hear a toddler put their hands on their hips and say, "You're not the boss of me!" That is what it means to renounce the power of this world.
Where do you sit? What do you wear? Which friends do you have? What school do you attend? People try to use those choices to squeeze you into a group. You have to do what they say if you want to be one of the cool kids... or one of the smart kids... or one of the pretty kids... or one of the athletes...
Renouncing means telling all of those things that try to rule you that they are no longer the boss of you. From now on, you will do what Jesus says. Nothing more. Nothing less.
That leads to the next step: reject. Renouncing means saying no to sin, rejecting means throwing out the things that cause you to sin. It's not enough to say you don't want be mean to people. Rejecting means throwing out the things that tempt you to be mean.
Sometimes that may mean letting go of a friend who always wants you to do mean things. Sometimes that may mean changing where you go or what you do.
When you renounce and reject, you are ready to repent. We all sin every single day. Sin is the gap between the things God wants you to do--and the things you really do. When we sin, we hurt others. We hurt those we love. We hurt ourselves.
To repent means to be honest when you fail, to apologize to those you hurt, and to go in a new direction so it doesn't happen again.
So what do you think?
Can you promise to renounce the world, reject temptation, and repent of your sins? Are you ready to do all of that today?
Please write your thoughts in the blog below. (Be sure to sign your first name so we know what you think.) Then we'll get together to discuss these things on Sunday!