penitence: 40 words in 40 days

penitence |ˈpenitns|

noun

the action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance: a public display of penitence.

Unless you are a monk, penitence is not a popular word. Today we suffer from shame-phobias. It is easy to confuse penitence with shame. Even though we don’t hear enough about it, penitence is vital to a growing relationship with Christ.

Lent is to remind us of the place we occupy in Christ. Forgiven. Redeemed. To experience the fullness of this forgiveness, confession is key. To experience the richness of living as The Redeemed, penitence is paramount. 

On Ash Wednesday, we read a Penitential Litany:

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

The process looks like this. I sin. I feel guilt or shame. I ask for forgiveness and receive it. I apply the blood of Christ. I move forward in grace. 

I realize that my life is not marked by this process. I go weeks without confessing my sins to the Lord. And I sin every single day multiple times a day, sometimes a minute.

Reading those words on Ash Wednesday among the fellowship of believers moved me to thirst for more penitence in my life.