“Pastor Jérémy, the title of your message is too harsh! You’re putting people under condemnation!” That might be what you’re thinking. But in reality, the fruit of our salvation should be making amends for the wrong we’ve done to others. Unfortunately, some people haven’t been properly taught about this, so let’s talk about it.

I really enjoyed reading the summaries of the evangelistic meetings held by evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. One truly striking thing is to see the fruit of people’s salvation. No matter what message is preached, a person who is genuinely saved feels the need to make things right.

This isn’t a religious act — it’s simply one of the natural consequences of God’s love being poured into the heart of someone who comes to Him. After Reinhard Bonnke’s meetings, people would come forward bringing back cars, furniture, appliances, and all sorts of things they had stolen — sometimes even placing them near or on the stage! Often, entire truckloads of stolen items were brought to the local police station in the city where the meetings were held.

True repentance leads people to repair the harm they’ve done. When my brother was born again, I remember two important things he did that really show the impact of genuine repentance and the effort to right past wrongs. He asked for my forgiveness for the harm he had done to me when we were younger.

One evening, not long after he returned to the Lord, he was convicted that he needed to ask my forgiveness. And that’s exactly what he did — it’s one of the most beautiful memories of my life, witnessing the result of God’s love in action.

“But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” — Matthew 6:15

He gave back what he had stolen. When he was younger, he had stolen a car radio from a vehicle parked in front of a house. After his new birth, he waited in front of that same house for several hours to repay the people for what he had taken years earlier.

“But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” — Luke 19:8

Zacchaeus had understood this principle by revelation. It’s beautiful to see the fruit of true repentance. But I’ve noticed that many Christians have never made restitution for the wrongs they’ve done. God placed it on their heart, but they didn’t obediently respond to that voice. Several years after my own new birth, while I was reading a book titled “Good Morning Holy Spirit”, I distinctly heard the Lord tell me to address three things from my past. These weren’t current sins, but things from the past! Yes, in our spirit, all things become new in Christ — but when possible, restitution should follow!

God asked me to say, “I love you” to my parents. I wasn’t estranged from them, not at all — but I just wasn’t in the habit of saying it. Love is a fruit of true new birth. God also asked me to repay a store I had stolen from during a season when I had backslidden as a Christian years before. So I wrote a check to that business and included my testimony of meeting Jesus. That letter touched the heart of the company’s director. I also sent a letter of apology to the principal of my middle school, whom I had insulted as a student.

You know what’s amazing? These things didn’t weigh on my heart at all! For me, they were done and forgotten. I wasn’t burdened by guilt. But God still spoke to me. He asked me to make a form of restitution. Reinhard Bonnke tells the story of a couple who converted. After their new birth, they resolved to return what they had stolen.

The man was an excellent salesman in a furniture store, but he had furnished his entire home with furniture stolen from that very store. His wife had worked at a financial institution and had embezzled money to buy their house. So the house and everything in it had been acquired through theft!

Now imagine the potential consequences of making such restitution: prison, fines, lawsuits, loss of property, poverty! But this couple chose the wealth of obedience over the fleeting pleasure of stolen goods…

This text is an excerpt from the book “365 Days at the Master’s Feet” written by several French-speaking authors, the main one being Jérémy Sourdril.

We invite you to read the rest of the article here: “YOU MUST MAKE RIGHT THE WRONG YOU HAVE DONE (Part 2).”

MAKE RIGHT THE WRONG.