April 22, 2025
“Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” -Romans 2:4
Paul doesn’t aim this verse at people far from God. He speaks directly to those who claim to follow Him — those who’ve seen His mercy firsthand. And still, the warning is clear: Don’t presume on it.
Grace is not permission. Kindness is not compromise. His patience has a purpose — and that purpose is repentance. Not just remorse. Repentance. Turning. Reordering. Not just acknowledging what’s wrong, but walking away from it. There’s a prayer that captures this posture better than anything I’ve read in a while. It was written by Jane Austen — not in a novel, but in her private collection of family prayers. She didn’t just shape literature; she practiced disciplined, reverent faith. Her words echo the same truth as Romans 2:4, but from the quiet of a soul laid bare before God:
“Look with mercy on the sins we have this day committed and in mercy make us feel them deeply, that our repentance may be sincere and our resolution steadfast of endeavoring against the commission of such in future. Teach us to understand the sinfulness of our own hearts, and bring to our knowledge every fault of temper and every evil habit in which we have indulged to the discomfort of our fellow creatures, and the danger of our own souls. May we now, and on each return of night, consider how the past day has been spent by us, what have been our prevailing thoughts, words, and actions during it, and how far we can acquit ourselves of evil. Have we thought irreverently of you, have we disobeyed your commandments, have we neglected any known duty, or willingly given pain to any human being? Incline us to ask our hearts these questions, oh God, and save us from deceiving ourselves by pride or vanity. Give us a thankful sense of the blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our lot, that we may not deserve to lose them by discontent or indifference.”
That’s the kind of repentance this verse is about. Not a moment of emotion. A habit of humility.
And today — while we still hear His voice — we walk through it. Not with shame. With honesty. With reverence for the One whose kindness keeps reaching for us. Let it lead you.