Repentance
“yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.” – 2 Corinthians 7:9
In January 2024 a wave of violence and looting broke out in Port Moresby, the capital of the country of Papua New Guinea (north of Australia)
An unconfirmed number of people were killed and dozens injured, as emergency services struggled to respond to the scale of the disturbance.
Video footage showed looters in the capital dashing into stores through smashed glass windows, stuffing stolen goods into cardboard boxes, plastic buckets, and shopping carts. One man was seen lugging an entire chest freezer away on his shoulders.
But then about five days after the looting started, a local pastor in Papua New Guinea gave the following report:
These days a curious phenomenon is taking place: the people who participated in the looting of recent days in Port Moresby are returning the looted goods. The appeals from the police and also from some church leaders are having a certain effect. Some parishes of Christian churches of different denominations got involved and declared: “Our doors are open for those who want to return stolen goods.” It was a kind of collective repentance, appealing to the Christian conscience of each citizen.
The Lord wants us to walk the road of repentance with Him. Confess and repent of any sin in your life and follow Christ in all that you do.
“The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance.” – Billy Graham
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'” – Matthew 4:17