Before the days of GPS, driving could be tricky. If we found ourselves lost, a reliable strategy was to retrace our steps until we discovered where we made a wrong turn. We would change our mind and go a different way.

Changing our mind is at the heart of one of the Bible’s most serious spiritual actions: repentance. The original Greek word for repentance is metanoeo, a compound verb meaning “to change one’s mind or to think again.” We think of repentance as being a serious change in behavior, and it is. But behavior begins with how we think and what decisions we make. So when we find ourselves acting in an ungodly way, we should retrace our steps and see how our thinking led us down a path of improper behavior. That was the message Christ gave the church at Sardis: “Hold fast and repent” or hold fast and change your thinking.

If your behavior is not what it should be, examine your thinking. Ask God to show you how to think God’s thoughts after Him.

Christianity starts with repentance.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones