When we think of the word repent, our minds’ eye may be filled with a vision of angry preachers yelling at fearful congregations! Yet Jesus spoke of repentance in a totally different spirit. His words were always spoken in the spirit of love, power, and truth towards those He was calling to Himself. Whenever Jesus preached repentance, it was out of a heart of love and desire for broken humanity to turn to Him and connect in a larger way with the living God. When Christ’s disciples ask him which one of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus called a toddler to his side and said, “Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this gentle child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm”. In other words Jesus directed his disciples to turn away from their self-sufficiency and pride, and humbly turn towards Him for the power needed to keep stepping forward spiritually, and the ability to recognize that only through His Light is our service effective or fruitful. Jesus was not upset or even impatient with His disciples, yet He gave them directives that spoke Truth while passionately longing for them to breathe in His presence, and follow His example of humility and forgiveness. Jesus spoke tenderly and affectionately, as He directed His disciples to turn around and become like children [trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving] so they would be able to discover the true meaning of greatness. Today, Jesus still directs us to repent, so that none of us will miss the revelation of God’s grace. We must turn away from our self-sufficiency and inflated egos, as we humble ourselves and turn towards His powerful grace and love to discover his Way. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit call us forth to guide our destinies, and to discover the true meaning of greatness! “At that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, ‘Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you repent [change, turn about] and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18: 1-5).