Photo by Jametlene Reskp
By Mike Chaffin
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
I confess, it is sometimes hard to own up to my own wrongdoing. Lot of that going around. We know we have broken a law, hurt someone, broken faith with our loved ones and sinned. Pride, ego, and fear usually stand in our way of confessing what we have done.
Sometimes we gather our courage and go to the person and own up to wrongfulness and ask forgiveness only to have them be unforgiving. We may have tried earnestly in good faith with our contrition and request for forgiveness, but sometimes people aren’t quite willing to let go of the wrong.
However, Jesus doesn’t hold grudges. He doesn’t limit what He will forgive us for. His is a no holds barred, total and absolute, infinite and final forgiveness of our sins. If only we confess them to Him and ask for forgiveness.
Jesus tells us, however, that to get His forgiveness we must forgive others and hurts we harbor in our hearts for wrongs done to us. We ask for forgiveness; we must give forgiveness. It is a two-way street.
Jesus told many parables about the importance of forgiveness. The bottom line is “ask and you shall receive”, but you must give the same as you get. An unforgiving attitude is a sin and when we confess that sin to Jesus, we are cleansed not only of the sins that make us filthy rags, but the hate and regret we harbor in our hearts and minds.
Only then, with a clean heart, soul, mind, and body do we have the joy of the Lord and the peace that passes all understanding.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I confess my sins to you. I give you my hurts and my unforgiving attitude. Cleanse me of my sins. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Live in me so that I can live in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* There is a website that conducted a search for Bible verses. They compiled a list of the verses in order of the magnitude of hits they got in their search. Some of these verses probably qualify as ‘people’s favorites’, while others might be on the list because they are some of the most important and most teachable words of God.
