Trust In God's Unfailing Faithfulness For Forgiveness
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9
I often feel the pressure to present myself as this put-together Christian. But those who really know me realize that I am not perfect. I love that God wears his heart on his sleeve (well, on the pages of the Bible).
To be in his heart, we do not have to prove ourselves worthy to be loved. He wants us to know we are simply, profoundly, and totally loved by him!
Just read through his Word and see that there aren’t too many amazing marriages or squeaky-clean people among our Bible heroes. King David got Bathsheba pregnant and had her husband murdered to cover it up. Noah’s sons found him passed out drunk and unclothed in his tent. Moses killed an Egyptian and had a son with his wife’s servant. Wait, that was a thing; Jacob had kids with his two wives’ servants.
Speaking of Jacob, the great patriarch of the twelve tribes was an opportunist, his mother’s favorite and deceived his dying father to get the blessing (THE BLESSING) that the first born should get.
Jonah, God’s prophet, outright disobeyed God’s command to go to Nineveh. Peter swore and cursed that he didn’t know Jesus three times after he boldly said he would never deny him.
And then there’s me.
And there’s you.
And our children.
And there’s God.
He uses the broken, the struggling, and people with embarrassing pasts to communicate this one message:
Jesus alone is our Savior. None of us—as moral as we want to present ourselves—is without sin. Every one of us needs a Savior to forgive us.
God yearns for parents and children to know that they need and have a Savior that will never leave or forsake them, no matter what mess they get themselves into. God’s faithful, merciful love gives families the confidence to not have to fake him or anyone else out. He just wants us to come clean with him, to be honest about our struggles and weaknesses.
He is faithful in forgiving us. The devil wants to take this truth away from us as he shows us our rap sheet of past and present failures. But we have a God who obliterated every single one of our sins in the blood of his Son, Jesus.
A Daily Prayer:
Dear Jesus, increase our trust in you. Help us to be alert for times our spouse and children need the assurance of your forgiveness. Your love fills us with a peace that passes the understanding that we know we will be with you forever. And we can have grateful joy in the truth that no matter what we have done, we are your beloved children. We praise you, dear God! Amen.
SHARING 1 JOHN 1:8-9 TOGETHER AS A FAMILY
Set a time to share these verses and give each family member an opportunity to talk about what it means to them. Do a lot of listening to understand the struggles each person has.
Pray together as a family, telling God the struggles we have and how his love for us makes us feel.
Find ways to remind each other of the forgiveness and love that we have in Jesus.