This time I am writing about the path of repentance. But I am doing it in a slightly different way. I am describing this path in the language of restorative justice. Restorative justice itself belongs to the field of penal policy. The goal is to restore relationships broken by crime by restoring the parties and making reparation for the crime.
But if we think about it now, we have done an indescribable amount of evil as humans on almost all levels. Therefore, there would be a lot of reason to implement restorative justice in order to restore the world, both between people and between people and God.
What is important is that eventually a way is found to replace violence with reconciliation and to compensate for the harm caused.
I approach it, as the title suggests, from a Christian perspective, because:
● As a Christian, I believe that all people are created in the image of God, are truly valuable and deserve respect and love
● I believe that through covenantal renewal and grace, God overcomes anger and moves towards the restoration of relationships. God’s love for us continues even when our behavior is condemned.
● Loving one another is the ultimate challenge for Christians and humanity, especially in conflict situations.
This approach involves communication, friendliness, responsibility, forgiveness, confession, and reconciliation.
There are some important points on this path that must be firmly followed:
1. Admitting what happened. Nothing can be fixed if the evil that has occurred is not acknowledged and the harm caused is not understood.
2. Understanding the situation of those who have suffered.
3. Making ourselves aware of the so-called right values. Values influence thinking, but values and thinking influence our state, from which behavior results. Behavior has consequences, which in turn influence our thinking and also values and beliefs.
4. Taking responsibility. Whoever has done evil and is capable of taking responsibility must also take responsibility. One must learn from mistakes and draw conclusions that will prevent evil in the future. This, of course, means courageous introspection and confession, i.e. uncompromising honesty before oneself, one’s fellow man and God. Responsibility must also be taken upon oneself for one’s future life.
Heavenly Father!
I, a poor sinful soul, come before You with gratitude that I can lay my heavy heart under the cross of Your Son. I have caused much pain to my loved ones and other people around me with my evil deeds. I have damaged my life and grieved You with all of it.
And now I take full responsibility before You and people for my past, present and future. I no longer want to make anyone cry tears of pain. I want to be a blessing to the people around me and also keep them in my prayers before You.
I know that I am weak as a person.
Therefore, I ask forgiveness for all the evil I have done and ask for the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can improve my life as a blessing to my fellow men, a joy to myself and the glory of Your name.
Amen
5. Request for forgiveness.
Let it be clear here that this path is not a path of reconciliation with evil, but an opportunity for the erring one to turn from the evil path and start from a clean slate, but to do so, he must also consider it necessary to compensate for the evil he has done. If there is no such will, then there is no other option but to accept increasingly harsh punishments from God. And if that doesn’t help either, hell awaits.
The truth is that none of us can consider ourselves infallible. Therefore, there is always reason to critically review our actions. I believe that in light of the above, it is not at all bad to think through our planned actions:
1. What consequences and to whom will I cause them?
2. How is my planned action in line with my ideal values?
3. Am I ready to take responsibility? Don’t do anything for which you are not ready to answer.
It is true that on this path we cannot please God, but this is how a person who pleases God, i.e. a blessed person, lives. God’s way is also the way of restoration—the way of restoring the relationship between Him and man. He let His Son die on the cross to pay our penalty and forgive us, humans. Now we have the opportunity to make changes in our lives with the help of God’s Spirit.
By the way. Here is a beautiful story from the Bible, John 6:5-12:
When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming to Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test Him, for He knew what He was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one of them to have a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was much grass in that place. So they sat down, in number about five thousand men. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he gave them to those who were seated on the ground, and of the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were full, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is wasted.”
This story teaches me the secret of Christian problem solving. If you have few resources, turn your worries to God and take action, and you will succeed.
Therefore, I believe that walking the path of repentance opens the gates of miracles. And this in every matter and at every level of human existence. I am of the opinion that every individual, but also every nation, state, and even the human race as a whole, has reason to walk the path of repentance. It is quite enough to make a small substitution in the concepts, i.e. to replace “person” with “state”, for example.
But in the end, the question is still what kind of life a so-called simple person should live. Among the subjects and next to me. The world is ultimately better when the so-called simple person has it better. May God help us!