Max the Dog and Remorse vs. Repentance

This is not a post about Max the dog.  I have written plenty of posts before about Max, our wonder dog.  This is a post on the difference between remorse and repentance illustrated through Max.  Hang in there with me.

To Max, we are his god.  One, he greatly desires a relationship with us.  He lives for our approval and generally will follow us in obedience.  We are a poor excuse for the god that Max follows.  We will discipline Max out of anger.  We will try to wrestle his blue toy away from him.  When throwing the stick, we will fake him out on the throw.  Nevertheless, to Max we can do no wrong and we are his god.

Max gets in trouble with chewing things off of the counter.  Most times, he will chew them when we are not around and he knows it.  He just can’t help himself – if it is there, he will get it and chew it.  Certain things he leaves alone such as fruits and vegetables.  He is a meat and potatoes dog.  So these are not a temptation for him and we as gods can leave them on the counter.  No matter how many times we come home and beat the tar out of him for chewing something off of the counter, he still does it every time if we leave the tempting thing on the counter.  Max means well, but he can’t help himself.  After all, he is a dog.  He is remorseful meaning he feels bad because he has offended his god and he knows he will be punished.  But he is not repentant meaning that he has the capability and the power to change his behavior.  He lacks what we humans have which is the ability to repent if we have supernatural power within us.

Judas was remorseful.  He felt bad for betraying Christ, but he was not repentant.  Peter was repentant and became a driving force for advancing the gospel.  Repentance means I do a 180 degree shift and have the potential to change if I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me.  Further, repentance means I genuinely desire a change to please the God who saves me.  My ability to change is not enough on its own.  I cannot change sinful behavior on my own.  It requires a supernatural change within me.  But God in His desire for a relationship with me gives me that ability to change.  2 Corinthians 7:10 states it succinctly - “Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow produces death (DQ – remorse)”.

So when I see Max the dog, I see myself in my unregenerate condition.  But thankfully we have a master God who regenerates us and actually provides the means for true repentance.