Remorse? I thought it was to be in obedience . . . there are things that I don't see that bad, but have had the conviction not to do them so there's no real remorse, just obedience to the voice within.
Again, for me . . .I really think it's important that we not miss the message . . .and that is to simply pursue Christ. Nobody had to teach me how to be like my Dad . . . it happened because of two things . . .one, DNA plays a huge roll. I was born with many of his traits and characterstics in me that required no mental discipline on my part . . .they just manifest in my maturity. There are many things my Father did that I always told myself that I would never do or be like . . .and I was with him Sunday afternoon and watched how he dealt with my boys . . .either that or my brother's kids . .they were all in the same room . . .not sure who was doing it but someone was jumping on the couch in the other room in his line of sight and in mid-sentence he bellowed out at them to get off the couch, it's not made to jump on . . .ironically, it's a sectional that my wife and I gave them . .but no matter.
What struck me is, I've had the same complaints from my teenaged daughters that I do the same thing . . .it really struck me to see that even though I never sat down and told myself "I'm going to do this and think like that so I'll be just like Dad . . ." In fact, if anything, I've done just the opposite . .yet there it is . . . I have just as many traits of my Father in me than I care to admit. But the point is . . . everybody's salvation walk is tailored according to each individual. Sure, there are the basics do's and don'ts . .but even then, it's the Holy Spirit that has the role of conviction, not us with each other.
If the seed of life is in you, then life will illuminate from you. If you were birthed into religion through man's "image" of God . . .then that is what you're going to produce and others will see. The self-discipline sounds like a noble cause, but it does little to manifest righteousness in you.
I mentioned there were two things that caused me to be like my Dad . .the one was the DNA thing . .the other is choice . . . there are things that my Father did that impressed me and had such an affect on me that I made a conscious decision that "I want to be like Dad" and so I would do things that "copied" him. Suffice to say, the latter, unlike the former, is conditional. I wanted to be like my Dad when I was awed by him . . . but when I was ticked off at him . . . that all changed.
I think our relationship with God fits this as well. There are many who want to be 'like' God because they're awed by him . . . but it's in vain because it's conditional . . .if circumstances change tomorrow, so does their desire to be like God . . . Think of that . . . someone is so enamored about God that they go to the inth degree trying their best to be like him . . .but then tragedy strikes . .a family member dies or some terrible thing happens and God is the first one that they blame. For me, the reason why many choose to discpline themselves is because they're serving an image, not a Father.
If Christ is in you, the Father's DNA is in you and you begin being like your Father as you mature without even realizing it. it didn't come by tithing, attending church regularly, praying a lot, or having the most accurate translation . . .it was in your DNA from the moment you said "Lord, come".
