⚓ Floatie: Aim the Gaze
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(ESV)
We drift toward what we stare at. On the road, in sports, and in the soul, sight sets direction. Repentance is not “feel bad and try harder.” Repentance is re-aiming the eyes: returning to the Way, by the Truth, into the Life.
A quick note on why this works: your eyes steer your body. What you fixate on becomes the brain’s target, and your nervous system makes tiny, constant course corrections toward that target (think “target fixation” in driving, motorcycling, and sports). Visual focus shapes motor planning—your gaze, balance, and muscle memory sync so you drift where you look. Stare at the wreck and you tend to become part of it. Look through the turn and your body follows. Spiritually, the same rule holds: fixate on the sin, the fear, or the offender and your habits bend that way; fix your eyes on Jesus and your steps begin to align with Him.
Hint: This is the key of repentance and what the enemy so desperately wants people to miss.
✒️ Forge: What Repentance Really Is (and Isn’t)
Repentance in Scripture means turn/return, not feel worse.
Romans 2:4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?(ESV)
In the Hebrew Scriptures, shuv means to turn back, to return. In the New Testament, metanoia means a change of mind that re-orients life. Both point to direction, not drama. Emotion may accompany the turn, but emotion is not the engine.
Repentance must be toward Someone, not just away from something.
Hebrews 12:1–2 (1)Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2)looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.(ESV)
The modern counterfeit reduces repentance to an emotional trap: “Don’t feel that. Feel this.” That keeps our eyes on the guardrails. Biblical repentance fixes our gaze on the road—on Jesus.
Case Study: The Driving Gaze
You keep replaying a failure and calling it “repentance.” But your week is filled with rumination, not reorientation. You are staring at the wreck. Return the gaze: schedule daily time “looking to Jesus” in the Word before you rehash the past. Your feet will follow your eyes.
⚒️ Anvil: Four Diagnostics to Tell Any Turn from a Return
1) Source Test: Who’s calling for the turn?
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.(ESV)
- Word-rooted and Christ-exalting, or platform-preserving and guilt-leveraging?
- Is Scripture taught in context, or cherry-picked to pressure you?
Case Study: Leadership Drift
A leader shouts “Repent!” but the “turn” mainly increases loyalty to them. Application points funnel people to the brand, not to Christ. Verdict: Any turn, not a return.
2) Direction Test: Where does this turn actually point?
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.(ESV)
- Can you name the obedience you are turning to in Scripture, or only the sin you are turning from?
- If the heading is vague, the circle will be wide.
Case Study: Financial Re-Aim (Spirit-Led Giving, Not Tithing Mandates)
“Stop overspending” fails because it is a negation. Return looks like: “Seek first the kingdom in my money.”
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.(ESV)
New Testament giving is voluntary, cheerful, and proportionate — not a fixed tax.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(ESV)
Practical frame (aimed toward God’s will, not guilt):
- Set aside intentionally, proportionate to increase.
- 1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.(ESV)
- Provide for your household as a first responsibility.
- 1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.(ESV)
- Pursue generosity as the Spirit leads (needs of saints, gospel work, the poor).
- Acts 2:44–45 (44)And all who believed were together and had all things in common. (45)And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.(ESV)
24-Hour Bearing: Draft a simple, zero-based plan that (1) sets aside a chosen, cheerful amount for generosity, (2) covers household needs, (3) assigns debt payments, and (4) limits impulse purchases with a weekly cash envelope.
Fruit (90 days): Less shame, more margin, and measurable generosity — not because of institutional pressure, but because your money is now aimed toward Christ’s priorities.
Disclosure: This is one I’m personally working on. Our finances shift so drastically and so often that each budget immediately has to be redone. The chaos added by this alone makes for an exciting life.
3) Fruit Test: What appears after 30–90 days?
Galatians 5:22–23 (22)But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23)gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.(ESV)
True return grows these. False turns grow anxiety, accusation, and pride.
Case Study: Relational Repair
You “repented” by going silent. Thirty days later, there is more distance, more suspicion, and zero peace. That was avoidance, not return. New direction: obey Romans 12:18; schedule a peacemaking conversation with humble confession and a concrete ask.
Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.(ESV)
4) Community Test: Who can confirm the heading?
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.(ESV)
Invite one mature, Scripture-submitted believer to sanity-check your turn. Lone-ranger repentance easily becomes a prettier circle.
Case Study: Teaching the “Safe” Half
Many teachers say “Don’t do this” but fear saying “Do this instead.” The enemy is content with leaders who never point to the Way. Courage is naming both sides: from the lie, to the Lord’s will, with a first step people can take within 24 hours.
🔥 Ember: A Brief Witness
Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.(ESV)
There was a period where I called my anxiety “discernment.” My “repentance” was to read more news and warn more friends—eyes locked on the wreck. I joined a lot of political and faith-based debate groups. I was an extremely vocal member of these groups and would spend days arguing this point or that. It overwhelmed my life. It consumed every thought. I had no room left for the things that really mattered. I fought bitterly on topics that I felt mattered. Somewhere along the way, I forgot the point of it all. The Spirit confronted me with Hebrews 12:2. I deleted several feeds, began taking more time to actually read the bible in the morning, and began praying for people I had been critiquing. Within weeks, the fruit changed: less agitation, more intercession, more peace. Same energy—different direction.
🌿 Covenant Triumph: Why Return Works
James 4:7–8 (7)Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.(ESV)
God is not playing keep-away. The moment we face Him, He meets us. Repentance is not punishment; it is the built-in road back to fellowship. The enemy does not care which cliff you avoid if you never face the Shepherd. But when we return—submitting and drawing near—He draws near. That is the promise, and that is the path.
[⚓ Floatie] [✒️ Forge] [⚒️ Anvil] [🔥 Ember] [🌿 Covenant Triumph]
This post follows the Forge Baseline Rule—layered truth for the discerning remnant.
Walking With Christ 
Leave a comment