How disturbed are you with your own faults, bad decisions and sins? Do you know the formula for “coming clean” with your sin?
It’s easy to remember and only has three steps; Confess, Repent, Seek Forgiveness. But what do these really mean?
King David once said about his transgression; “I confess my guilt; I am troubled by my sin.” (Psalms 38:18 NCV) The question is are you and I “troubled by our sin?”
So let’s go through the three steps:
Confession is specific. It not only confesses and lists the wrong, but the effects of it. It talks about how it disappointed or how it broke hearts and so on. Confession is empathetic and displays a broken heart of how it failed both God and others.
Even Jesus said that our words display our heart. He said “The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart.” (Matthew 12:34 NCV) In your confession, what kind of words are you speaking? Those words display your true heart.
Repentance is large, wide and deep. It involves remorse in big ways. It changes how you think. It breaks your heart and humbles your position. It creates behavior changes and accountability. Repentance explains to the one offended what they will do to make their wrong right. Then repentance gets to work.
If confession is thorough, repentance is real, and if this process of making a wrong right is taken seriously - asking for forgiveness is so natural - for example:
“If you could find a way in your heart (and you don’t have to now), please consider forgiving me - I am deeply sorry and want to do the right thing and I’m so sorry I have not.”
Then, just leave it there.
Don’t try to manipulate the situation toward forgiveness or patching things up. Just work on you. Work on your sin. Work on doing the right thing. Work out and work on your repentance. Show through your change (your repentance) that you are truly sorry. If you walk close to God, he will orchestrate healing for you and the one you offended.
And by the way. If they have not confessed, repented or sought forgiveness, you will find freedom if you simply forgive them anyway. Why? Because some never confess, change or ask for forgiveness. You don’t want to live in anger, bitterness and remain shackled to your unforgiveness. This position of anger and unhappiness is a hard place to live.
In short, repentance is real if change occurs. When the heart changes, the life changes. Anyone can alter behavior for a while, however if the heart has not truly repented, the behavior will be short lived.
There is no better place than to enjoy a clean conscience and have our sins forgiven.
The Apostle John said “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.” (1 John 1:8-9 NCV)
LORD, help us to confess, repent and seek forgiveness. IJNIP amen ♥️
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