What’s one thing each and every one of us desperately needs, without which nothing else we accomplish in our life will matter much? Do you ever consider what that might be? I’m not talking about accomplishment, wealth accumulation, or distinction, but about a deeply personal issue of the heart.
”Get wisdom and insight! Do not forget or ignore what I say.“ (Proverbs 4:5 GNT)
I’ve become convinced what we need more than anything else is forgiveness. Without it, we will not function properly in this life, and will afterward find ourselves rightly (and horrifyingly) judged for our sins.
Not convinced you have any sins; any culpability or guilt? Then you’re not looking deeply enough into yourself—or you’re not being honest. We’re all guilty of so much wrong that at some point you just give up keeping track, because there’s just too much to remember. And I’m not even talking about the big obvious stuff.
So maybe you haven’t orchestrated a Ponzi scheme to embezzle from unsuspecting retirees, or gunned down a rival gang leader. But have you always without fail acted rightly? Are you morally perfect, without defect or flaw? Or do you occasionally indulge in what you know is wrong—whether a drinking or other “under-the-influence” spree, a lie or other intentional misrepresentation, a sexual urge, or a display of temper or rant of venomous words towards another?
Our consciences either convict or exonerate us, and if we’re honest with ourselves we know we’re guilty before God’s holy standard—even if we’re presently refusing to acknowledge His existence or rightful authority over us.
We really do need to face the fact that, yeah—we’ve sinned. And getting rid of that unpleasant consciousness requires that we either deny it, suppress it or bring it out into the open and acknowledge it. We can lie to ourselves and say we did nothing wrong, but that only works for so long because we know better. Suppression is what most of us try—we just ignore it pretending it didn’t happen, or go on with life trying to forget what we did. But that strategy typically backfires in the form of various mental issues and miscellaneous difficult-to-pinpoint-the-origin-of physical ailments. We KNOW the guilt is there, and our subconscious psyche sabotages us.
The alternative of bringing it out into the open is the correct strategy of dealing with any kind of guilt, but once we acknowledge it we must still do something with it—we’ve got to make it somehow go away.
That’s the significance and power of Jesus Christ. (Yeah—the one whose name people thoughtlessly spit out when they’re frustrated.)
It’s only through Jesus Christ that God removes—from those who believe in Him—the guilt of sins done:
”But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the [Old Testament Jewish sacrificial] law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.“ (Romans 3:21-26 NLT)
So what’s the solution for unresolved guilt? It is presenting it to God because of Christ Jesus—not for denial or suppression—but for complete absolution and forgiveness:
”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)
But yes—of course there’s more. Listen to the entire context of this verse:
”This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 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. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.“ (1 John 1:5-10 NLT)
God will forgive us, but we must not go on living in spiritual darkness; we must practice the truth. What does that mean? It means we must repent—turn away from—the things we know are wrong. So yes, something is required of us—we must evidence our faith in the power and authority of God by trusting Him to meet our needs, rather than trying to meet our needs through sinful means.
Yes, it’s hard; that’s why there are so few who actually follow through. But when we do, what we get is forgiveness! We get the best way to live this life, and the only thing that will ultimately matter as we’re breathing our last breath and leaving these bodies—a clean conscience and right standing before God, and admittance to His forever presence and goodness!
Dear Lord God,
Please forgive me because I believe in Your Son Jesus Christ. Help me evidence my faith by showing You real repentance in my life. Thank You that “[we] who believe in the name of the Son of God…may know[we]…have eternal life.“ (1 John 5:13 NLT) Amen.
essentialdailyscriptures 