Thought of the Day !!

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

                                1 John 1:9 (NLT)

Forgiveness.  It might not be something we think about on a daily basis, but is something we need so badly.  If a friend or family member holds a legitimate grudge over us for something we've done or said, it will affect us more than we can know.  This is because it affects us deeply in the heart.  We might try to outwardly hide it or inwardly wish it away, but it continues to hurt us.  It's painful because we know what we did was wrong.  We know that we would love to take it back, but can't go back in time.  And we know that we can't control the person that we've harmed to make them forgive us.  We can apologize.  We can try to make amends.  But we cannot control the situation.

We've all sinned according to Paul in Romans.  None of us has been the perfect child to God.  We've been selfish and prideful.  We've struggled to obey His commands. We've placed something in our lives before Christ.  We might be guided by His love and seek to love others, but there will simply be times when we will fail.  And when we are in love with our Savior, our Father in Heaven, the Spirit that resides in us, we pain ourselves when we have let Him down.  

That's where forgiveness comes in.  No matter what we've done or how far we've gone, God's love goes farther and reaches deeper.  We cannot out-sin God's forgiveness.  He says if you love me you will obey me.  He also points out that when we fail to obey, we can repent (or change).  Part of what makes this repentance genuine is confession.  Confession shows that we know we are wrong as well as being the beginning of our own healing.  When we confess, God forgives.  He begins the healing process.  He brings us back under his wings and tells us that what we've confessed is no more.  

In the love of Christ,

greg