REPENTANCE DAY REEFLECTIONS
Repentance is a way of life.
The national repentance day is an important day that reflects our strong Christian history. When the day was declared the national day of prayer and repentance in 2007, we acknowledged God as the source of our life, our country, and our very existence, yet the way we live as a nation does not show that we have truly repented or changed our way of life. In the last 18 years, we have been celebrating this national day, but its significance has not been felt or experienced across the country. Look beyond your personal life and see the moral behaviour of our people across the nation. The reality we see in our country makes me wonder if we truly have repented or changed our moral behaviour and truly live as Christians.
The realities of the negative outcome of our moral behaviour across the country are undeniable. We see violence in many different forms increasing in our communities. We see social instability dividing families and communities. We see the abuse of drugs and alcohol affecting our people and communities. We see theft of the country’s resources at a high level destroying our nation. We see corruption in high offices killing our beautiful nation. We see dishonesty and greed destroying the collective values of respect, love, care, and justice. We see the negative behaviour of our young people disrupting peace and harmony in our communities. We see ethnic and tribal conflicts spreading in many parts of our country as well as in our cities and towns. We see many other forms of injustice causing the suffering of our citizens and communities.
We must change if we want to change our country. Change comes with discipline. We have the capacity to discipline ourselves how we relate to one another, how we react to issues, how we respond to challenges, how we treat others, how manage the resources of the country, how we mange public funds, how we adhere to the rules of our society and laws of our country.
Change must begin within us. When genuine repentance happens within us, change will also happen in our communities and country. Therefore, I want to appeal to our political leaders and those in positions of authority and responsibility to lead by example what true repentance is. We must lead by changing our undisciplined lives and bad behaviour so that others will follow us. We must change the culture of greed and corruption, develop honesty, and be of service to others. We must change the culture of stealing from public money and use development money to transform the county. We must change our culture of aggression and violence and develop a respectful attitude. We must change the culture of deceit and cheating and be honest in our dealings with others. We must change from the culture of free handouts and laziness and work hard and earn an honest living. We must change the culture of bribery and dishonest business deals and live a noble life. Repentance is not a one-time act but a way of life. It must be reflected in the way we live every day, and leaders must lead by example.
Rev. Dr. Jack Urame, Head Bishop ELCPNG
