Maturing in Confession

Stacy and I were recently discussing how hard it is to keep coming back to God for forgiveness for the same sin over and over. It struck me that the answer is in one of God's great examples, the family.

We have teenagers. Gone are the days when the time they spend with their friends is under constant supervision. Gone are the days when we are right there to influence their behavior. Now we have to lean on what we’ve taught them up until now. And we have to hope that they have confidence in us that they can come to us if they are in trouble. That is our hope because if they come to us when their problems are small, even if it happens again and again, then the corrections hurt them less than if they hide it and let the problems grow and compound.

What if I keep failing before God? Am I going to be embarrassed for failing? Yes. Am I going to question my own maturity and expect God to also? Yes. Am I going to be anxious about hurting my relationship with God by not living up to his standards? Yes. Am I going to sometimes let things go further than I should and have a bigger mess? Yes.

We are not to flippantly pursue sin as Paul warns us in Romans 6:1. However, if God would ask us to keep forgiving our brother if it filled every minute of a full workday (Mt 18:22) how much more faithful will He be with forgiving us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I Jn 1:9) God has asked us to confess our sins, we shouldn't be afraid to take our sins before our perfect heavenly father every time. He will respond with a kindness that we can't understand.

- Bryan Norris

#MaysvilleMessenger