Goodness of God will lead you to a change of heart.

[Rashad Javed]

Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

 My goodness will lead you to a change of heart.

I love this promise. Romans 2:4 basically says it is the very goodness of God that leads people to repent, which means to simply change your mind. Many times, when we think of repentance, we think of it as a shamed based response to some form of judgment in our lives. But really, it really means to go in another direction.

When Jesus said, 'Repent for the kingdom is near', He was calling people to a new direction, a new way of thinking where they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. For too long, the word repentance has had far too many negative connotations.

There may be a place for a fire and brimstone, turn or burn message in the proclaiming of the gospel. But there is also a place where when we simply proclaim God's goodness and His love, people will respond by repenting from their old ways and turning to the living God.

We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) He loved us while we were still His enemy. I believe it is the love of the Father that will melt the hearts of humanity and draw each one into His bosom through the free gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is our Papa's goodness that will lead us to change our minds and go in a new direction. When I think of this promise in this light, it changes the way I see evangelism. It is the goodness of our heavenly Father that will cause the biggest transformation in a person's heart.