March 12, 2026 • 23 mins
Have you ever apologized to God so many times that it felt like you were stuck in a spiritual apology loop?
In this episode of the Divine Shenanigans Podcast, Brynn talks about what repentance actually means — and why it’s not supposed to send you into a shame spiral.
Using Psalm 51 as the foundation, we explore the difference between conviction and condemnation, why shame keeps us stuck, and how repentance in the Bible is about turning toward God, not beating yourself up.
You’ll hear a personal story about over-apologizing to God, relatable community experiences, and biblical examples of repentance that lead to restoration instead of humiliation.
If you’ve ever felt like you disappointed God beyond repair, this episode will remind you of a freeing truth:
Repentance is not self-hatred.
It’s simply turning back toward grace.
Episode Highlights:
• What repentance actually means in the Bible
• Why shame keeps us spiritually stuck
• Conviction vs condemnation (and how to tell the difference)
• Psalm 51 and David’s honest prayer of repentance
• The restoration stories of Peter and the Prodigal Son
• Practical ways to return to God without the shame spiral
• Holy Homework to help you reconnect with God honestly
Song of the Week: Unlearn the Noise — Brynn Elise
This episode is for anyone who has ever thought:
"God must be disappointed in me."
Spoiler alert:
He’s not waiting to shame you.
He’s waiting to restore you.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
It's devised and any good.
Only the liberty with great.
It's sanctified clarity.
With Britain on the mic andtruth in her hands.
She's breaking down the Biblewith laughter and a plant.
It's divine.
(00:21):
Oh, it's divine shenanigans.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
Hey friends, welcome back to Divine Shenanigans
Podcast, the place where we arelearning, laughing, and loving
Jesus one slightly chaoticspiritual moment at a time.
I'm Bryn, your host, fellow workin progress, professional
overthinker, and occasionalspiritual drama queen.
(00:50):
And today we're talking aboutsomething that Christians hear
about a lot.
But almost nobody explains itvery well.
Today's topic is repentancewithout the shame spiral.
Because somewhere along the way,a lot of us learned that
repentance meant beatingourselves up, groveling
(01:11):
dramatically, apologizing to Godlike we just totaled this car,
and feeling terrible for a verylong time.
Like God is up in heaven going,You may approach me once you
have suffered emotionally for anappropriate amount of time.
But the Bible paints acompletely different picture.
(01:32):
So today we're talking aboutwhat repentance actually means,
why shame keeps us stuck, thedifference between conviction
and condemnation, and how Godcorrects us without humiliating
us.
And we'll end this with someholy homework that might
honestly be one of the mostfreeing things you do this week.
(01:53):
So grab your coffee, your tea,your Bible, your emotional
baggage, and let's talk aboutrepentance.
Alright, before we get intotheology, I want to start with a
confession.
Because if anyone used to be badat repentance, it was me.
I used to apologize to God likesomeone trying to cancel a gym
(02:14):
membership.
Over and over and over and overagain.
Have you ever done that?
You messed up, you pray, youapologize, and then five minutes
later you're like God, I justwant to say again I'm really
sorry.
And then again later, God, Iknow I already said sorry, but I
just want to say sorry again.
(02:36):
And then tomorrow, just circlingback around on yesterday's
apology, I treated God like hewas keeping a customer complaint
lock.
Like if I didn't apologizeenough times, he might escalate
the situation.
But here's what I realizedlater.
I wasn't repenting, I wasshaming myself.
(02:57):
And shame feels spiritualsometimes, but it actually keeps
us stuck.
Now let's talk about that,because this is where a lot of
people misunderstand repentance.
The word repent in the Biblemeans something incredibly
simple.
It means to turn.
That's it.
(03:17):
Not beat yourself up, notgrovel, not emotionally punish
yourself.
Repentance literally means I'mgoing this direction and I'm
turning toward God instead.
It's a change of direction, nota self hatred ritual, but
somewhere in church culture,repentance turned into emotional
(03:39):
self destruction.
Like we're supposed to feelterrible, rehearse our failures,
relive our mistakes, andspiritually shame ourselves.
But that is not repentance,that's condemnation.
And the Bible actually talksabout that.
Let's go to Psalm fifty one.
This is one of the most famousrepentance prayers in the Bible.
(04:02):
And it was written by KingDavid, after he made some truly
catastrophic life choices.
I mean we're not talking about Isnapped at someone in traffic.
We're talking about adultery,deception, abuse of power, and
murder.
So if anyone had reason tospiral into shame, it was David.
(04:25):
But listen to how he prays.
Let's sit for a moment with theheart of today's conversation.
Psalm fifty one ten says Createin me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me.
Now this verse is powerful onits own, but it becomes even
(04:45):
more powerful when you rememberwho wrote it and why he wrote
it.
This prayer comes from KingDavid, and David was writing it
after one of the darkest seasonsof his life.
This is after the wholesituation with Bathsheba.
If you know the story, you knowthis wasn't a small mistake.
(05:07):
David committed adultery, triedto cover it up, abused his
power, and arranged for a man tobe killed.
We are talking about acatastrophic failure.
And when the prophet Nathanconfronted him, David finally
saw the truth of what he haddone.
And Psalm fifty one is theprayer that came out of that
(05:29):
moment.
But here's what's fascinating.
David does not spiral into selfhatred.
He doesn't say God I'mworthless.
He doesn't say I am beyondrepair.
Instead, he says somethingincredibly honest and incredibly
hopeful.
Create in me a clean heart.
(05:52):
Notice the wording.
He doesn't say help me clean myown heart.
He says create in me a cleanheart.
That word create is important.
In Hebrew, it's the word bara.
It's the same word used inGenesis when God created the
world.
It literally means to createsomething new.
(06:15):
Something that didn't existbefore.
David understood somethingprofound about repentance.
Repentance is not just behaviormanagement, it's heart
transformation.
He wasn't asking God to help himlook better on the outside.
He was asking God to do deepinternal work.
(06:38):
Then David says something elserenew a right spirit within me.
The word renew means to restoresomething that has become
crooked or bent.
And if we're honest, that's whatsin does to us.
It bends our thinking, it bendsour desires, it bends our
(06:59):
priorities, it bends our hearts.
Repentance is a process whereGod straightens what has been
bent, and David knows he can'tdo that alone, so we ask God to
renew his spirit.
What I love about this prayer ishow simple and honest it is.
David doesn't perform.
(07:21):
He doesn't try to soundimpressive.
He simply says, God, somethingin me needs to change.
And that is the essence ofrepentance.
It isn't spiritual theatrics.
It's a humble moment where wesay, God, my heart needs your
help.
But here's the part that mattersfor all of us.
(07:44):
David is not just confessingfailure.
He's asking for restoration.
He believes God can createsomething new inside him, and
that belief is the opposite ofshame.
God can rebuild.
Psalm fifty one reminds us thatrepentance is not the end of the
(08:04):
story.
It's actually the beginning ofrenewal.
God doesn't just forgive, Hetransforms, He restores, He
recreates what was broken.
This verse gives us a model forhow to approach God when we mess
up.
Not with shame, not with selfhatred, but with honest prayer.
(08:27):
Something as simple as Godcreate in me a clean heart.
That prayer alone opens the doorfor God to start doing the work
we can't do ourselves.
And the beautiful truth is thisGod is always more interested in
restoration than punishment.
He is always more interested intransformation than
(08:50):
condemnation.
Which means when we pray likeDavid did, we aren't approaching
a disappointed God.
We're approaching a restoringGod, and that changes
everything.
And this leads to one of themost important things we need to
understand conviction versuscondemnation.
(09:10):
Christians mix these up all thetime, but they are completely
different experiences.
Conviction comes from the HolySpirit.
Condemnation comes from shame.
And they feel very different.
Conviction says this isn't whoyou are.
Let's go a better direction.
(09:31):
Condemnation says this is whoyou are, you're hopeless.
Conviction invites change.
Condemnation traps you inidentity.
Conviction leads to freedom.
Condemnation leads to hiding.
And the Bible actually says thisvery clearly in Romans eight
(09:53):
one.
There is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
Notice it does not say there isnow less condemnation.
It says none.
God corrects us, yeah.
But he does not shame us.
(10:13):
But shame has a sneaky way ofcreeping into our spiritual
lives, and it keeps us stuck.
Shame is incredibly powerfulbecause shame doesn't just say
you did something wrong.
Shame says you are somethingwrong.
And when we believe that, westop turning toward God and we
(10:34):
start hiding from Him.
Just like Adam and Eve in thegarden, Genesis says they hid
because they felt shame.
Not conviction, shame.
And people still do that today.
They stop praying, they stopgoing to church, they stop
reading the Bible.
Not because they don't want God,but because they feel like God
(10:57):
doesn't want them.
But that is a lie.
And the gospel completelydestroys that lie.
Because the truth is, Godalready knows everything about
you.
Nothing you confess is asurprise.
Let's look at a few biblicalexamples.
Because repentance in the Biblealways leads to restoration, not
(11:22):
humiliation.
The prodigal son.
The son runs away, wasteseverything, hits rock bottom,
and finally decides, I need togo home.
That is repentance.
Turning back.
But what happens when hereturns?
Does the father lecture him?
Does he shame him?
(11:42):
Does he make him earn his wayback?
No.
The father runs toward him,throws a celebration, and
restores him fully.
That's the heart of God.
Then we have Peter.
Peter denies Jesus three times.
Three times.
And when Jesus restores him, hedoesn't say Peter, explain
(12:06):
yourself.
He says, Do you love me?
Three times.
Jesus restores him at the exactpoint he failed.
Not with humiliation, but withinvitation.
And here's the beautiful part.
God still works like that today.
Over the years I've heard somany stories from people who
(12:29):
thought they had ruined theirrelationship with God.
People who thought I've messedup too badly.
But every single time someoneturns back to God, they discover
the same thing.
God wasn't standing theredisappointed, he was standing
there waiting.
So how do we actually practicehealthy repentance in daily
(12:51):
life?
Let's make this practical.
Here are a few simple ways toapproach repentance the way the
Bible describes it.
Be honest with God.
God is not shocked by yourhonesty.
You can tell him the truth, evenif the truth is messy.
Even if the truth is God, I knewbetter, but I did it anyway.
(13:14):
Honesty is the doorway totransformation.
Focus on turning, not punishing.
Repentance is all aboutdirection, not emotional
punishment.
The goal is God help me walk adifferent path.
Receive grace.
This is the hardest part formany people.
(13:37):
Actually believing that Godforgives, but grace is the
foundation of the gospel.
And this leads us to today'sholy homework.
This week's assignment is simplebut powerful.
Take a few minutes, sit quietly,and write a private prayer of
honest turning.
(13:58):
Not dramatic, not religious,just honest.
Something like God, here's whereI have been going the wrong
direction.
Help me turn.
That's repentance.
It's not about performing, it'sabout returning.
Alright, friends, before we wrapup today's episode, it's time
for one of my favorite parts ofthe show, our song of the week.
(14:21):
Because sometimes music sayssomething to our hearts that
words alone can't quite reach.
And today's song ties perfectlyinto what we've been talking
about repentance without theshame spiral.
The song is called Unlearn theNoise.
And if you've ever struggledwith feeling like you
(14:42):
disappointed God, if you everfelt like your spiritual life
became more about guilt thangrace, this song was written
exactly for that space.
I wrote Unlearn the Noise duringa season when I realized
something really uncomfortable.
I had spent years carryingaround spiritual noise that God
(15:05):
never actually said.
You know the kind of noise I'mtalking about.
The voice that says you shouldbe further along by now.
Real Christians don't strugglelike this.
If you were really faithful, youwouldn't still be dealing with
this.
And the worst one, God must betired of you.
(15:25):
That voice can sound reallyspiritual.
But the truth is it's not thevoice of God.
It's the voice of shame.
And I remember sitting with myjournal one afternoon, realizing
how many of the beliefs I hadabout God weren't actually
coming from Scripture.
They were coming from churchpressure, perfectionism,
(15:50):
people's expectations, andhonestly, my own fear of messing
things up.
And the more I thought about it,the more I realized something.
Sometimes part of our faithjourney isn't just learning new
truths.
Sometimes it's unlearning lies.
(16:10):
Unlearning the idea that Godonly loves the polished version
of us.
Unlearning the idea that we haveto earn grace.
Unlearning the idea thatrepentance is supposed to feel
like punishment.
And that's where the line fromthe chorus came from.
The lyric says, If I'm going tochange anyway, let me unlearn
(16:35):
the noise.
Because repentance isn't justabout turning away from sin.
It's also about turning awayfrom false beliefs about God.
It's about letting God rewritethe story in our heads.
And that's exactly what Psalmfifty one shows us.
Create in me a clean heart.
(16:57):
That prayer is the opposite ofspiritual noise.
It's simple, it's honest, it'shopeful.
And unlearn the noise is reallyabout rediscovering that kind of
faith again.
Faith that isn't built on fear,faith that isn't built on guilt,
faith that's built on grace.
(17:18):
So if today's conversation aboutrepentance and grace spoke to
you, I want you to just take aminute and let the music settle
in.
Unlearn the noise will play atthe very end of the episode, so
stick around.
And if you'd like to hear thefull version with lyrics, it's
available on my YouTube channelunder Bryn Elise Music.
(17:40):
I always say this, but I mean itevery time.
Music has a way of reachingplaces in our hearts that
sermons sometimes can.
And if this song resonates withyou, I hope it reminds you of
something important.
God isn't asking you to performfor him.
He's inviting you to walk withhim.
(18:03):
And sometimes the first step inthat walk is simply learning to
unlearn the noise.
Now let's close in prayer.
God, thank you that your hearttowards us is mercy.
Thank you that repentance is nothumiliation but invitation.
(18:23):
Help us release the shame thatkeeps us stuck.
Help us hear your voice ofconviction without the lies of
condemnation.
And when we wander, give us thecourage to turn back.
Remind us that you are notwaiting to punish us.
You are waiting to restore us.
(18:45):
Create in us clean hearts, renewright spirits within us, and
teach us to walk with you infreedom.
Amen.
Thank you for spending time withme today on Divine Shenanigans
Podcast.
If this episode helped you,share it with a friend who might
need to hear it.
(19:06):
And if you'd like deeperdiscussions, episode guides, and
real conversations about faithin life, come join our free
Divine Shenanigans community onschool.
You can also find me on YouTube,Facebook, and Substack, where we
keep the conversation goingthroughout the week.
Until next time, keep learning,keep laughing, and keep loving
(19:30):
Jesus.
Even if your faith journey is alittle chaotic, honestly, that's
where most of the divineshenanigans happen.
See y'all next week.
SPEAKER_02 (19:56):
Of a thousand voices loud, every headline, every
opinion pulling my heart around.
Everybody's got an answer,everybody's got a claim.
But somewhere in the shouting, Iforgot your quiet name.
(20:18):
So I'm stepping from the chaos,let the silence rearrange.
All the things I thought weresturdy, all the habits I won't
change.
I'm trying to learn the noise.
All the fear that dressed itselflike wisdom in the sky.
(20:45):
The echoes to the truth becomesmy choice.
The world keeps telling her.
(21:06):
Like the louder we keep talking,the more it's still dark.
But you're kidding the mood andgood.
So I'm sitting down a hurry.
(21:29):
Let the quiet do it work.
I'm trying to learn the noise.
I'm like, Oh the fear thatdressed itself.
I wish to make disguise.
(22:00):
To recognize your still steadyvoice You were never in the
thunder, you were never in theshow, you were waiting in the
(22:25):
stillness where the quiet riversflow.
So I'll stay a little longerwhere the shouting disappears
till the only thing I'm hearingis the mercy in your nearness.
I will unlearn the noise, letthe silence make me new.
(22:50):
Every restless distraction tillmy heart remembers you.
When the world keeps screamingtryna steal my choice, I'll
return to the whisper of yourstill steady voice.
When the noise begins to fade,and the truth comes back in
(23:14):
view.
I remember in the quiet, everyroad leads back to you.
It's devised and any good.
Only the liberty with great.
It's sanctified clarity.
With Britain on the mic andtruth in her hands.
She's breaking down the Biblewith laughter and a plant.
It's divine.
(00:21):
Oh, it's divine shenanigans.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
Hey friends, welcome back to Divine Shenanigans
Podcast, the place where we arelearning, laughing, and loving
Jesus one slightly chaoticspiritual moment at a time.
I'm Bryn, your host, fellow workin progress, professional
overthinker, and occasionalspiritual drama queen.
(00:50):
And today we're talking aboutsomething that Christians hear
about a lot.
But almost nobody explains itvery well.
Today's topic is repentancewithout the shame spiral.
Because somewhere along the way,a lot of us learned that
repentance meant beatingourselves up, groveling
(01:11):
dramatically, apologizing to Godlike we just totaled this car,
and feeling terrible for a verylong time.
Like God is up in heaven going,You may approach me once you
have suffered emotionally for anappropriate amount of time.
But the Bible paints acompletely different picture.
(01:32):
So today we're talking aboutwhat repentance actually means,
why shame keeps us stuck, thedifference between conviction
and condemnation, and how Godcorrects us without humiliating
us.
And we'll end this with someholy homework that might
honestly be one of the mostfreeing things you do this week.
(01:53):
So grab your coffee, your tea,your Bible, your emotional
baggage, and let's talk aboutrepentance.
Alright, before we get intotheology, I want to start with a
confession.
Because if anyone used to be badat repentance, it was me.
I used to apologize to God likesomeone trying to cancel a gym
(02:14):
membership.
Over and over and over and overagain.
Have you ever done that?
You messed up, you pray, youapologize, and then five minutes
later you're like God, I justwant to say again I'm really
sorry.
And then again later, God, Iknow I already said sorry, but I
just want to say sorry again.
(02:36):
And then tomorrow, just circlingback around on yesterday's
apology, I treated God like hewas keeping a customer complaint
lock.
Like if I didn't apologizeenough times, he might escalate
the situation.
But here's what I realizedlater.
I wasn't repenting, I wasshaming myself.
(02:57):
And shame feels spiritualsometimes, but it actually keeps
us stuck.
Now let's talk about that,because this is where a lot of
people misunderstand repentance.
The word repent in the Biblemeans something incredibly
simple.
It means to turn.
That's it.
(03:17):
Not beat yourself up, notgrovel, not emotionally punish
yourself.
Repentance literally means I'mgoing this direction and I'm
turning toward God instead.
It's a change of direction, nota self hatred ritual, but
somewhere in church culture,repentance turned into emotional
(03:39):
self destruction.
Like we're supposed to feelterrible, rehearse our failures,
relive our mistakes, andspiritually shame ourselves.
But that is not repentance,that's condemnation.
And the Bible actually talksabout that.
Let's go to Psalm fifty one.
This is one of the most famousrepentance prayers in the Bible.
(04:02):
And it was written by KingDavid, after he made some truly
catastrophic life choices.
I mean we're not talking about Isnapped at someone in traffic.
We're talking about adultery,deception, abuse of power, and
murder.
So if anyone had reason tospiral into shame, it was David.
(04:25):
But listen to how he prays.
Let's sit for a moment with theheart of today's conversation.
Psalm fifty one ten says Createin me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me.
Now this verse is powerful onits own, but it becomes even
(04:45):
more powerful when you rememberwho wrote it and why he wrote
it.
This prayer comes from KingDavid, and David was writing it
after one of the darkest seasonsof his life.
This is after the wholesituation with Bathsheba.
If you know the story, you knowthis wasn't a small mistake.
(05:07):
David committed adultery, triedto cover it up, abused his
power, and arranged for a man tobe killed.
We are talking about acatastrophic failure.
And when the prophet Nathanconfronted him, David finally
saw the truth of what he haddone.
And Psalm fifty one is theprayer that came out of that
(05:29):
moment.
But here's what's fascinating.
David does not spiral into selfhatred.
He doesn't say God I'mworthless.
He doesn't say I am beyondrepair.
Instead, he says somethingincredibly honest and incredibly
hopeful.
Create in me a clean heart.
(05:52):
Notice the wording.
He doesn't say help me clean myown heart.
He says create in me a cleanheart.
That word create is important.
In Hebrew, it's the word bara.
It's the same word used inGenesis when God created the
world.
It literally means to createsomething new.
(06:15):
Something that didn't existbefore.
David understood somethingprofound about repentance.
Repentance is not just behaviormanagement, it's heart
transformation.
He wasn't asking God to help himlook better on the outside.
He was asking God to do deepinternal work.
(06:38):
Then David says something elserenew a right spirit within me.
The word renew means to restoresomething that has become
crooked or bent.
And if we're honest, that's whatsin does to us.
It bends our thinking, it bendsour desires, it bends our
(06:59):
priorities, it bends our hearts.
Repentance is a process whereGod straightens what has been
bent, and David knows he can'tdo that alone, so we ask God to
renew his spirit.
What I love about this prayer ishow simple and honest it is.
David doesn't perform.
(07:21):
He doesn't try to soundimpressive.
He simply says, God, somethingin me needs to change.
And that is the essence ofrepentance.
It isn't spiritual theatrics.
It's a humble moment where wesay, God, my heart needs your
help.
But here's the part that mattersfor all of us.
(07:44):
David is not just confessingfailure.
He's asking for restoration.
He believes God can createsomething new inside him, and
that belief is the opposite ofshame.
God can rebuild.
Psalm fifty one reminds us thatrepentance is not the end of the
(08:04):
story.
It's actually the beginning ofrenewal.
God doesn't just forgive, Hetransforms, He restores, He
recreates what was broken.
This verse gives us a model forhow to approach God when we mess
up.
Not with shame, not with selfhatred, but with honest prayer.
(08:27):
Something as simple as Godcreate in me a clean heart.
That prayer alone opens the doorfor God to start doing the work
we can't do ourselves.
And the beautiful truth is thisGod is always more interested in
restoration than punishment.
He is always more interested intransformation than
(08:50):
condemnation.
Which means when we pray likeDavid did, we aren't approaching
a disappointed God.
We're approaching a restoringGod, and that changes
everything.
And this leads to one of themost important things we need to
understand conviction versuscondemnation.
(09:10):
Christians mix these up all thetime, but they are completely
different experiences.
Conviction comes from the HolySpirit.
Condemnation comes from shame.
And they feel very different.
Conviction says this isn't whoyou are.
Let's go a better direction.
(09:31):
Condemnation says this is whoyou are, you're hopeless.
Conviction invites change.
Condemnation traps you inidentity.
Conviction leads to freedom.
Condemnation leads to hiding.
And the Bible actually says thisvery clearly in Romans eight
(09:53):
one.
There is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
Notice it does not say there isnow less condemnation.
It says none.
God corrects us, yeah.
But he does not shame us.
(10:13):
But shame has a sneaky way ofcreeping into our spiritual
lives, and it keeps us stuck.
Shame is incredibly powerfulbecause shame doesn't just say
you did something wrong.
Shame says you are somethingwrong.
And when we believe that, westop turning toward God and we
(10:34):
start hiding from Him.
Just like Adam and Eve in thegarden, Genesis says they hid
because they felt shame.
Not conviction, shame.
And people still do that today.
They stop praying, they stopgoing to church, they stop
reading the Bible.
Not because they don't want God,but because they feel like God
(10:57):
doesn't want them.
But that is a lie.
And the gospel completelydestroys that lie.
Because the truth is, Godalready knows everything about
you.
Nothing you confess is asurprise.
Let's look at a few biblicalexamples.
Because repentance in the Biblealways leads to restoration, not
(11:22):
humiliation.
The prodigal son.
The son runs away, wasteseverything, hits rock bottom,
and finally decides, I need togo home.
That is repentance.
Turning back.
But what happens when hereturns?
Does the father lecture him?
Does he shame him?
(11:42):
Does he make him earn his wayback?
No.
The father runs toward him,throws a celebration, and
restores him fully.
That's the heart of God.
Then we have Peter.
Peter denies Jesus three times.
Three times.
And when Jesus restores him, hedoesn't say Peter, explain
(12:06):
yourself.
He says, Do you love me?
Three times.
Jesus restores him at the exactpoint he failed.
Not with humiliation, but withinvitation.
And here's the beautiful part.
God still works like that today.
Over the years I've heard somany stories from people who
(12:29):
thought they had ruined theirrelationship with God.
People who thought I've messedup too badly.
But every single time someoneturns back to God, they discover
the same thing.
God wasn't standing theredisappointed, he was standing
there waiting.
So how do we actually practicehealthy repentance in daily
(12:51):
life?
Let's make this practical.
Here are a few simple ways toapproach repentance the way the
Bible describes it.
Be honest with God.
God is not shocked by yourhonesty.
You can tell him the truth, evenif the truth is messy.
Even if the truth is God, I knewbetter, but I did it anyway.
(13:14):
Honesty is the doorway totransformation.
Focus on turning, not punishing.
Repentance is all aboutdirection, not emotional
punishment.
The goal is God help me walk adifferent path.
Receive grace.
This is the hardest part formany people.
(13:37):
Actually believing that Godforgives, but grace is the
foundation of the gospel.
And this leads us to today'sholy homework.
This week's assignment is simplebut powerful.
Take a few minutes, sit quietly,and write a private prayer of
honest turning.
(13:58):
Not dramatic, not religious,just honest.
Something like God, here's whereI have been going the wrong
direction.
Help me turn.
That's repentance.
It's not about performing, it'sabout returning.
Alright, friends, before we wrapup today's episode, it's time
for one of my favorite parts ofthe show, our song of the week.
(14:21):
Because sometimes music sayssomething to our hearts that
words alone can't quite reach.
And today's song ties perfectlyinto what we've been talking
about repentance without theshame spiral.
The song is called Unlearn theNoise.
And if you've ever struggledwith feeling like you
(14:42):
disappointed God, if you everfelt like your spiritual life
became more about guilt thangrace, this song was written
exactly for that space.
I wrote Unlearn the Noise duringa season when I realized
something really uncomfortable.
I had spent years carryingaround spiritual noise that God
(15:05):
never actually said.
You know the kind of noise I'mtalking about.
The voice that says you shouldbe further along by now.
Real Christians don't strugglelike this.
If you were really faithful, youwouldn't still be dealing with
this.
And the worst one, God must betired of you.
(15:25):
That voice can sound reallyspiritual.
But the truth is it's not thevoice of God.
It's the voice of shame.
And I remember sitting with myjournal one afternoon, realizing
how many of the beliefs I hadabout God weren't actually
coming from Scripture.
They were coming from churchpressure, perfectionism,
(15:50):
people's expectations, andhonestly, my own fear of messing
things up.
And the more I thought about it,the more I realized something.
Sometimes part of our faithjourney isn't just learning new
truths.
Sometimes it's unlearning lies.
(16:10):
Unlearning the idea that Godonly loves the polished version
of us.
Unlearning the idea that we haveto earn grace.
Unlearning the idea thatrepentance is supposed to feel
like punishment.
And that's where the line fromthe chorus came from.
The lyric says, If I'm going tochange anyway, let me unlearn
(16:35):
the noise.
Because repentance isn't justabout turning away from sin.
It's also about turning awayfrom false beliefs about God.
It's about letting God rewritethe story in our heads.
And that's exactly what Psalmfifty one shows us.
Create in me a clean heart.
(16:57):
That prayer is the opposite ofspiritual noise.
It's simple, it's honest, it'shopeful.
And unlearn the noise is reallyabout rediscovering that kind of
faith again.
Faith that isn't built on fear,faith that isn't built on guilt,
faith that's built on grace.
(17:18):
So if today's conversation aboutrepentance and grace spoke to
you, I want you to just take aminute and let the music settle
in.
Unlearn the noise will play atthe very end of the episode, so
stick around.
And if you'd like to hear thefull version with lyrics, it's
available on my YouTube channelunder Bryn Elise Music.
(17:40):
I always say this, but I mean itevery time.
Music has a way of reachingplaces in our hearts that
sermons sometimes can.
And if this song resonates withyou, I hope it reminds you of
something important.
God isn't asking you to performfor him.
He's inviting you to walk withhim.
(18:03):
And sometimes the first step inthat walk is simply learning to
unlearn the noise.
Now let's close in prayer.
God, thank you that your hearttowards us is mercy.
Thank you that repentance is nothumiliation but invitation.
(18:23):
Help us release the shame thatkeeps us stuck.
Help us hear your voice ofconviction without the lies of
condemnation.
And when we wander, give us thecourage to turn back.
Remind us that you are notwaiting to punish us.
You are waiting to restore us.
(18:45):
Create in us clean hearts, renewright spirits within us, and
teach us to walk with you infreedom.
Amen.
Thank you for spending time withme today on Divine Shenanigans
Podcast.
If this episode helped you,share it with a friend who might
need to hear it.
(19:06):
And if you'd like deeperdiscussions, episode guides, and
real conversations about faithin life, come join our free
Divine Shenanigans community onschool.
You can also find me on YouTube,Facebook, and Substack, where we
keep the conversation goingthroughout the week.
Until next time, keep learning,keep laughing, and keep loving
(19:30):
Jesus.
Even if your faith journey is alittle chaotic, honestly, that's
where most of the divineshenanigans happen.
See y'all next week.
SPEAKER_02 (19:56):
Of a thousand voices loud, every headline, every
opinion pulling my heart around.
Everybody's got an answer,everybody's got a claim.
But somewhere in the shouting, Iforgot your quiet name.
(20:18):
So I'm stepping from the chaos,let the silence rearrange.
All the things I thought weresturdy, all the habits I won't
change.
I'm trying to learn the noise.
All the fear that dressed itselflike wisdom in the sky.
(20:45):
The echoes to the truth becomesmy choice.
The world keeps telling her.
(21:06):
Like the louder we keep talking,the more it's still dark.
But you're kidding the mood andgood.
So I'm sitting down a hurry.
(21:29):
Let the quiet do it work.
I'm trying to learn the noise.
I'm like, Oh the fear thatdressed itself.
I wish to make disguise.
(22:00):
To recognize your still steadyvoice You were never in the
thunder, you were never in theshow, you were waiting in the
(22:25):
stillness where the quiet riversflow.
So I'll stay a little longerwhere the shouting disappears
till the only thing I'm hearingis the mercy in your nearness.
I will unlearn the noise, letthe silence make me new.
(22:50):
Every restless distraction tillmy heart remembers you.
When the world keeps screamingtryna steal my choice, I'll
return to the whisper of yourstill steady voice.
When the noise begins to fade,and the truth comes back in
(23:14):
view.
I remember in the quiet, everyroad leads back to you.
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