What If? Doubt Creating, Hope Crushing Words

These are, in my opinion, two of the most dangerous words in the Christian's vocabulary.

Doubting Your Decisions

Doubt is one of the greatest enemies of faith.  Our doubt is aimed at one of two objects: ourselves or God.  Doubt knows no time limits.  It can be applied to the past, present or future.  It creates worry on every level.  It causes us to second guess past decisions, worry whether we are making the best decision at this moment, or to agonize over future events and expectations.

Doubt's favorite words are "What If"?  That is the question that arises when doubt is knocking at the door. WHAT IF, I had done this or that differently?  WHAT IF, I do this and that happens?  What if?

WHAT IF, I screw my child up?  WHAT IF, I choose the wrong career?  WHAT IF, I don't get that promotion?  WHAT IF, I can't pay my rent or feed my kids? WHAT IF, I married the wrong person?

WHAT IF??!!

It can be endless, faith stealing, hope crushing madness if we do not understand how to defeat these two words.  I used to make myself crazy over all kinds of WHAT IF's in life, thinking I had somehow screwed up God's plans for my life and thinking how he couldn't use me in the same way he could if I had made a different decision.  As If God had some perfect will for my life but because I wasn't listening and submitted, He let me screw up what He had planned. That is not how it works.  Read Psalm 139. David understood the sovereignty of God at work in our lives.

Some Christians make themselves crazy when it comes to witnessing to others.  Pastors do that as well, as it relates to preaching and shepherding those in their care.  They are so concerned that they may say or do the wrong thing that will cause someone to not believe the gospel and end up in hell. That also, is not how it works.

What Does God Say?

God's word is loaded with truth on the matter of worry, doubt, unbelief, and His Sovereign decrees which no one can thwart.  God's word is clear on the WHAT IF's of life.  WHAT IF's are lies from the devil to distract us from the goodness and faithfulness of God.  Let's look at some truth.

In Job 42:2, Job says, "I know that you can do anything and that no plan of yours can be thwarted."  How does Job know that?  Because God has just spent a few chapters explaining that fact to Job.

In Psalm 139:13-16 David declares, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

Isaiah 14:27 says, "For the LORD of Hosts has purposed and who will annul it?  His Hand is stretched out and who will turn it back?"

Isaiah 46:9-10 says, "for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose."

Psalms 33:11 says, "The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations."

In John 6:37-39 Jesus states, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

Ephesians 1:4-5 states, "even as He chose us in him before the foundation  of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

Ephesians 1:11 states, "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of  his glory."

2 Timothy 1:9 states, "who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave in Christ Jesus before the ages began."

So What Does All This Mean?

So what is the point of all these passages?  God has a plan.  From the beginning of time until Christ's triumphant return He has decreed and ordained by His will, for His purpose, and for His glory all that shall come to pass.  Some of His decrees are revealed and clearly seen by us, some are hidden and we will not understand them fully until we are with Him in glory, if they are even revealed to us then.

You see we serve and infinite God, so there are infinite things to learn about Him.  The only things we are sure to understand in this life, is that which He has clearly revealed in Scripture.  The greatest key is to understand that God is not required to explain all of his ways to us however, we are required to trust Him according to what He has revealed to us in scripture.  "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His works"(Psalm 145:17).

As it relates to sharing the gospel, we should always study to show ourselves approved and we should always rightly divide the word of truth as we share the gospel(2 Timothy 2:15).  However, we can rest in the fact that if we don't do it perfectly or know just what to say in a certain situation that we have not caused an eternally damning scenario.  God knows all who will believe and they will come to faith in Christ no matter how poor a job we do of presenting the gospel.  If we are striving to be obedient in understanding and sharing our faith, we can trust that He will appropriate the necessary heart change in His timing because it is perfect.

Do I Have Any Control?

As it relates to salvation and other decisions in life some may ask, are we robots?  What about "free will"?  If God knows everything we do before we are going to do it and has ordained that it will happen, then how do we have any will at all?  Don't I choose to be saved?  Don't I make choices freely everyday?  For certain there is some mystery here.  But again, scripture teaches us what we need to know.

The problem with free will is it assumes personal autonomy or a will that acts independently, free of influence.  That is a fallacy.  It does not exist.  We do make choices freely, of our own will, but not totally without influence.  Our wills are driven by our hearts.  We make decisions either from a heart that is bound by the law of sin and death and is at odds with God; or we make decisions from a heart that has been changed and freed by the Spirit of life and molded to love God and desire to please him(Romans 8:1-11).

In his famous work, Freedom of the Will, the great pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards makes a distinction between our natural will and our moral will.  For instance, our natural will is that will which makes fleshly decisions which have no particular moral impact i.e. which socks to put on or what we will eat for breakfast.  The moral will however is that will which, as stated previously, either functions from a heart that desires to please and glorify God or a heart which does not.  Our salvation and our moral actions will only derive from a heart which loves God, if the Spirit of God first gives a new heart which loves Him.  The unregenerated heart does not and will not ever love God or be motivated to please Him.

Regarding salvation, we learn from Scripture that apart from Christ, we are dead in our trespasses and sins.  A dead person never made a decision to do anything.  Yet, even as we are dead, God makes us alive in Christ.  We are saved by grace, through faith as a gift so that we can take no credit(Ephesians 2:1-10).   Jesus taught that we must be born-again(John 3).  No one ever chooses to be born.  Salvation comes through faith that is exercised from a heart that has been changed.  A concept known as regeneration.  As I said, that heart was bound up and unable to even want to please God much less give itself to Him(Romans 8:7-8).  Once that heart is brought from death to life, i.e. regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, it now wants to believe and is now able(Romans 8:9-11).

So, are we robots?  No.  Are we slaves?  Yes. Without Christ, we are slaves to sin, with Christ we are slaves to righteousness.  The word slave generally has a negative connotation but in this case it is actually a freeing and life giving concept when rooted in a relationship to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is akin to a bond-servant in bible times.  This type of slavery was actually highly relational and often bound together in love. Through Christ, we have a reconciled relationship with the Father. From the Father, we receive all of the marvelous promises which can resolve the doubts and what if's. Through Christ, we are free to live lives that are worthy of the gospel and designed to bring glory to God(Philippians 1:27, Colossians 1:10).

What Does This Look Like?

 As long as we are not violating the clear principles of Scripture, we are free to make choices that meet our needs and desires based on personal preference and if we need wisdom and guidance beyond that we can ask for it(James 1:5-6).

As for the perfect spouse or career, you don't have to stress that either.  God gives us guidelines for choosing a godly husband or wife.  Basically, they have to be a committed, bible-believing Christian. Other than that if you love 'em and you wanna spend the rest of your life with 'em...go for it.  Well, WHAT IF, I married a non-Christian and I was a Christian who didn't know any better or have become one since.  1 Corinthians 7:12-16 answers this question.  In essence, it states that as long as they are willing to live peaceably with you, you should remain married and continue with all the functions that come in marriage, representing Christ-like character to them.  In doing so, hopefully you will win them to Christ(1 Peter 3:1-2).

However, at no point can God's sovereignty be looked to as an excuse for disobedience.  For instance, my marriage is on the rocks and I don't want to work at it anymore.  God is sovereign, so he must be allowing this to happen, thus I am not responsible to fight for my marriage any longer.  That is a clear violation of what scripture teaches regarding marriage and divorce.  While He may allow you to disobey, God in His sovereingty will never give you permission to violate his word.

God gives guidelines for careers as well.  If it interests you, you seem to be good at it and again, it does not violate any clear principles of Scripture, it's probably a good idea.  God simply says this, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."(1 Corinthians 10:31)  Now I do believe that the Holy Spirit provides some guidance along the way but you get the point. We tend to super-spiritualize so many decisions and make it way more complicated than it has to be.

We also receive instruction on how to move forward in our Christian walk.  In Philippians 3:12-13 Paul tells us how he pursues attaining the goal of Christlikeness.  He says,

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own , because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Eye On The Prize

What is the prize?  What is the upward call?  It is eternity with Jesus.  It is a completed salvation which culminates in a perfect body and a perfect soul that are no longer sin-stained and corrupted but are perfected and in complete submission to the God who loves them and whom calls them His own.

To be in perfect relationship with our holy Creator and King, with whom we will reign in the new heavens and the new earth, must be the goal.  There, we will have no more pain or sorrow.  Tears and disease will be gone.  Sin and rebellion will be gone.  God will make all things new.  He will be our God and we will be His people(Revelation 21:1-5). 

Until That Day

We press on.  We trust that the Creator of the universe and our Heavenly Father is solidly in control and that we could not mess up His plans for our lives even if we wanted to.  We trust, study and learn God's word because that is the way in which we get to know and understand God more deeply.  We spend time in prayer because that is how we learn to commune with God and enter into His presence and His rest.  We fellowship with other believers and encourage one another to love and good works while building ourselves up in our most holy faith, holding fast to the confession of our hope.(Hebrews 10:23-25, Jude 1:20)

We share the gospel as hard and fast as we can go and we work hard to fulfill the Great Commission.
(Matthew 28:19-20)

If we are doing all of these things, not only will we find answers and encouragement to deal with many of the what if's in life, we will not have time to even think of them.  We will be so busy growing in the Lord and striving to serve Him faithfully that we will not have time to worry or doubt.

Our doubts will sink and our hopes will rise!!

Benediction/Doxology

In case you don't know what these words mean, a benediction is a closing, usually as a prayer.  A doxology is a moment of praise often regarding the attributes and actions of God.  For me the Doxology in Jude 1:24-25 is very effective and is very appropriate to this topic, so here goes:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen!

Abortion, Judgement and Grace, The Battle Goes On

On January 22 1973, now over 42 years ago, Roe vs. Wade was passed and we began allowing for the legalization of the murder of the unborn as a country.  A quick Google search seems to reveal that the most recent stats on abortion are from 2011.  It is enough to say that there were 1.06 million abortions in 2011.  From 1973-2011 nearly 53 million legal abortions happened in the U.S. alone; to say nothing of the rest of the world.  That is breathtaking.  According to its own annual report, Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions in 2013 alone.  If we assume that roughly 1 million abortions were performed nationwide in 2013, that means that a third of them were performed by Planned Parenthood.  That is one of many reasons that I am glad the current issues have arisen regarding that organization. By comparison, approximately 9,508,340 Jews died in the Nazi holocaust.  So it is not an exaggeration to relate abortion to the holocaust.  In fact the abortion holocaust significantly dwarfs the Jewish holocaust.

Two years ago I wrote the first version of this blog post in response to the 40th anniversary.  I have been stirred horrifically regarding the subject of abortion.  I have not experienced it personally but I know friends and family who have and I have strong convictions regarding the bibles' stance on the subject.  In light of the current stir over the heinous practices of Planned Parenthood, I wanted to speak to the issue again.  As useful as this Planned Parenthood fiasco may be to the the pro-life cause on some level, it only brings to life yet again, that which has been going on for forty years.  It cannot be ignored, it must not be ignored.

Someone told me two years ago that they were impacted in a somewhat offensive but positive way.  They watched some of the videos referenced below, read what I had to say and said that, in the end, it did in fact cause some considerations regarding this controversial topic that they had not had before.  I pray it will do the same for you.

Purpose

I want to make it clear from the beginning that the intent of this post is not to bash over the head those whom have had abortions.  In fact, I intend to defend them.  We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  I have certainly made my share of past mistakes, though none of them have scarred me in the way that an abortion emotionally scars the mothers and fathers of aborted babies.  The fact is that many women whom have abortions regret it after the fact, even if they are not professing Christians.  They may have even gone into it kicking and screaming.  There is something about having a living, breathing human being ripped out of you that leaves you never the same after that.  Not only does it kill the baby but it destroys a part of the mothers life.  Though not considered nearly as often, many fathers lives are also negatively impacted in a significant way as they spend the rest of their lives trying to live with the guilt and grief that is attached to the decision to abort.  They are all victims of the system, mother, father, and baby.

If you have had an abortion, performed an abortion, or encouraged/forced an abortion, there is hope and grace for you if you repent.  There is peace and forgiveness available to all who put their hope in Christ.  I will speak more to this at the end.  Please continue with me for now.

Resources



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I may speak more encouragingly to those whom have had abortions in another post.  In the meantime, www.saveone.org is the website for a post-abortion recovery organization that could also prove helpful to you. It was started by a victim of abortion and one of my friends was the first male member of this organization as a father who was negatively affected by abortion.

If you are reading this and are interested in more info regarding the misunderstandings or outright deceit regarding the abortion industry check out the 20 minute video, To Save a Life@  http://youtu.be/MNJmpQSbFeE or buy Blood Money Film@ www.bloodmoneyfilm.com.  There are a lot of resources and information at the latter website.  You can also check out a mind blowing 33 minutes of interviews with people on the street who ignorantly think they are pro-choice, many of whom's minds are changed by the end of the video.  You can find it at www.180movie.com or there is a tool at the top of my blog page that will actually play the video for you right there.  One other resource I would mention is a book entitled "ABORTION: The ultimate exploitation of women".  It discusses the idea that from the beginning abortion was created by men and promoted by men and women and that in the grand scheme of things, women are victims.  What we must see above all else is that, while that may be true historically, ultimately sin created abortion and we must learn to see it for what it is and HATE it for what it is.

The Pro-choice Heart

My desire for now is to speak with those who are pro-choice.  Those who would like to dive headlong in favor of abortions, while professing Christ as Savior and Lord.  I would dare to say it can't be done.  If you are justifying blatant sin in the face of biblical teaching, then the most likely fact is that your heart is hard toward the things of God and you have no relationship with Him.  I do not write this to condemn you for as Jesus said in John 3:18, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."  Perhaps you are grossly misinformed either by bad teaching or your own understandings as to who God is and how He speaks on matters of the heart, which abortion most certainly is.  Either way, I do not believe that you can honestly believe that abortion is ok, and truly be believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

It must be understood regarding belief, that it is not merely intellectual ascent.  If you say you believe in God, Jesus, and the bible, yet this belief does not create change in your thought life and behavior, then it is no belief at all.  Belief is a revelation in your heart of who you are as a sinner that has rebelled against your Holy Creator.  Yet this Creator, who had every right to squash us all like a bug long ago, supplied from the beginning, a resolution to this problem of sinful rebellion in His Son Jesus.  

When you begin to get a hold of these truths it will drive a willing submission to His Lordship and obedience to His commands.  John 14:15-24 speaks repeatedly to the fact that those who truly love Jesus will obey Him and keep His commandments.  So, if you are not doing this you are already condemned.  In fact, all believers were condemned in the same way since their birth, but for the saving grace of God applied through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

I pray that, by the end of this post, you will see God's heart regarding abortion as sin and no longer be able to stomach the thought of it in relation to the life giving love of God.

Is It Really Murder?

One of the Ten Commandments is "THOU SHALT NOT MURDER!" (Exodus 20:13)
Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22, "You have heard it was said to those of old, You shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement".  The Apostle John expounds on this in the letter of 1 John 3:15 by saying, "Everyone that hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."  If Almighty God himself says that anger towards your brother is as murder in order to drive home the seriousness of the offense, then how severely do you think He feels about the actual taking of life?

Whether you are talking about an innocent adult, a murderous rapist, or an innocent, unwanted, unborn child; if this person is bringing anger, hate, guilt, or resentment into someone's life, are those not equally dire offenses in the eyes of God.  Now follow those feelings one step further and actually take the life of that person and imagine the wrath of God directed toward that.  Make no mistake, the bible is clear from beginning to end.  When one life is taken by another, God sees it as murder and He condemns that act, if not the impenitent person.

Who says it's a person?









Many have tried to justify this vicious act by arguing over the time table at which a fetus becomes a person.  It is a ridiculous argument.  Just look at these pictures.   Possibly the youngest surviving premature baby ever was born in November of 2010 at 21 weeks weighing just one pound.  That is represented by the picture at 5 months and 1 week.  That baby is now thriving.  The obscene irony is that if the doctor had intentionally killed that baby he would have gone to prison.  Doctors have been tried for this in court.  However, if that baby had been in the womb at 21 weeks and unwanted by the mother for whatever reason, she would have been completely justified in aborting it.  It is a terrifically horrendous travesty that our hearts will allow us to differentiate between the two.  Only an unregenerate aka. non-Christian heart could maintain the ability to ignore this truth.  I know this because God cannot stomach that thought process.  In fact, He hates it.

While no man can truly know the heart of another in relation to Jesus Christ and only God is the judge as to their eternal outcome, Jesus himself makes it very clear that the fruit of our Christian walk will be representative of our relationship with Him. (Matthew 7:13-27)  You cannot claim to know and be known by the God of the universe, Creator of all things, and support the destruction of what God's word says He made and formed. (Psalms 119:73)  In fact, Psalms 139:13-16 says this about Gods creation of us.

"For you formed my inward parts.  You knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance.  In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."  

God inspired the writer to use words and phrases like, "knitted me together", "fearfully and wonderfully made", "and intricately woven" in this scripture.  These words do not indicate the carefree, emotionally uninvested efforts of some factory manufacturer on an assembly line.  NO!  These are the words of our Creator who took delicate care to lovingly mold us into exactly who he wanted us to be.  The means by which we are conceived, who we are born to, and where we are born are no accident.  Our personality, temperament, cognitive ability, and physical make up and ability are no mistake.  Our God made us exactly how he intended us to be, by certain ordained means, in order to accomplish the purposes for which we were created.  Go back and look at those pictures again and consider the scripture above as you do it.  Those pictures represent God intimately at work with his most precious creation.

How dare we think we have the right to destroy that! 

This is the same God who said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:14) Anyone who thinks that abortion and this God of the Bible go hand in hand are deceiving themselves and have much reason to be concerned about their eternity.

God says a fetus is a person whom HE carefully crafted, and it will be God that will hold the guilty accountable regarding this travesty!

What Do They Know About It?

On a website called, www.abortion.procon.org  This pro abortion idea was stated.  "Motherhood must never be a punishment for having sexual intercourse."  President Barack Obama said in a Mar. 29, 2008 campaign speech in Johnston, Pennsylvania, "I have two daughters... I'm going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

This man, our President, claims to be a Christian and yet, rather than thinking of a baby as a consequence for which responsibility should be taken, he thinks of it as a burdensome punishment that no one should have to endure courtesy of their own moral irresponsibility.  That is heinous and it angers me.  But he is not alone.  Thousands, if not millions of people in America and around the world think just as selfishly and just as sinfully.  And profess Christ in the process.  Let me tell you,  their eternal life is in danger.

I wonder statistically, how many pro-choice advocates have ever actually had an abortion.  The evidence that I have seen and you will to if you watch the above referenced videos is that there is absolutely nothing beneficial to the mother.  In fact, if they don't die, the overwhelming majority wish they had never done it. The impression is that the mother is as much a victim of the system and a victim of the peer/family pressure of others as the baby is.  She is scared, confused, and very rarely has an advocate telling her both sides of the story. Although, I have seen testimonies of those whom have been talked out of abortions by those who have had them.  They do seem to be the rarity.  Probably because news of that is not a great selling point for an abortion clinic.

Where do you stand?

Listen, I could go on and on but the primary issue is this.  The moral decline of this nation and this world are spiraling out of control at break neck speed.  I am speaking as strongly as I am  regarding this topic because it is that serious.  There is a significant demonic deception on this matter and tip toeing around the issue is not the answer.  I am doing this out of a tough love which realizes that if we don't stand up and shout about this issue, there will more be babies lost, even if only temporarily.  Worse yet, there will be souls lost for all eternity.

We, the true believers must continue to stand against the lies of the enemy.  Not only those directed toward us but those directed at sinners or believers caught up in a huge mistake.  Listen to me!  If you stand on the side of the murder of the born or the unborn, whether in word or deed, in an unrepentant stance then you will not inherit the kingdom.  You will not go to heaven. The bible says that God hates all evildoers and that He must and will pour out His wrath on all sinners at the judgement. (Psalms 5:4-6) 

That is why Jesus had to die.  In order for God to be just and loving, someone had to pay the price for our sins and that is what Jesus did.  He took our place so that God's wrath could be satisfied and we could still have a shot at eternity with Him.  Please do not think that He will stand by idly, watch you ignore His word and selfishly do whatever you please and not do something about it.  Judgement will come swiftly, horribly, and eternally if you do not surrender you life to Jesus.

Where do you stand?  Will you repent in response to the heart of a loving God and His word?  Or will you ignore the warnings of the bible, continue to defend the murder of defenseless children, and risk your eternal destiny.

We Were All Condemned Apart From Christ

Please understand that this is bigger than being pro-choice or whether or not you have had an abortion before.  This is about the fact that we are all sinners and we all deserve to go to hell, however, it is not because of any one sin.  We are not sinners in the eyes of God because we sin.  We sin because we are sinners in the eyes of God.  We are born guilty sinners.  We all bear the guilt of Adam's sin from the moment we are conceived(Romans 5:12-21).  It is his incredible mercy and grace that patiently waits for us to repent and believe.  However, he will not wait forever.  Judgement will come and it will be too late.  Today is the day for repentance.  Today is the day of salvation.

Unless we are born again and begin living for God instead of for ourselves, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God(John Ch. 3).  I pray that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that the Holy Spirit will convict your heart about that and you will cry out to God to save you.  GOD LOVES YOU!  That is why he sent Jesus.  Make no mistake, you cannot earn salvation.  It is a free gift.  Romans 3:24 says that we have been "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  Romans 5:8 says that, "God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."   We are all dead in our sins until God makes us alive in Christ.  As believers, we have been raised to new life together with Christ by His graceful provision of faith.(Ephesians Ch. 2).

Repent and Believe The Gospel!

If you already feel that tug at your heart to believe on Christ and begin walking in obedience then it is time.  Repent and believe the Gospel.  Pray to God.  Tell him of your need for Him.  Thank Him for saving you.  If it is real, you will know because your heart will be changed. Not only should you no longer be ok with abortion or any other sin, but your desires will begin changing away from the desires for the things of the world and toward the things of God. 

Repentance means turning away from sin and running towards God. You will not attain perfection until you get to heaven but you should always, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, be striving for perfection. (Philippians 2:12-13)  Salvation bears the fruit of obedience to God's Lordship as evidence of that salvation.  Fruit that is motivated by love for your Heavenly Father and gratitude for the sacrifice of His Son.  We serve God because He first served us.  We love God because He first loved us.

Begin reading the Bible and attending a solid Bible teaching church.  Your life will never be the same.  If you have given your life to Jesus and you are struggling with the guilt of a past abortion, you need to know that there is freedom from guilt and healing from the pain available in this new relationship with Jesus.  God's grace and forgiveness can and will cover every sin of a repentant heart.  As you begin praying and reading your bible, God will show you this and He will set you free and fill you with joy and peace, even in the midst of trials.  This is the Good News of the Gospel!

As always if this post only sets one person free from the bondage of the pro-choice heart and brings glory to God in that process, then it has been worth the effort to right it and the criticism it could bring.

Love in Christ,

Joshua Newton