FORGIVEN
Every week for several months I walked into Pastor Don Moore’s office (Living Word Chapel) and confessed the sin of the week. Our dialogue went, “God can’t forgive me because I did _______”
Each and every time I said that, he would say, turn to First John Chapter 1 Verse 9 and tell me what it says. It says: ” If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
There is NO sin, NO sin that God will not forgive. (Will there be repercussions for some sins? Yes. If you rob a bank, God will forgive you, but you may still do jail time.) Pastor Don would then find someone in the Bible who is guilty of a similar sin and let me see that God was still able to use them in spite of their sin.
This is a conditional verse though.
IF we confess our sins – this means we can confess or not. If we do we get forgiveness, if not, forgiveness doesn’t happen. Who do we confess to? God, Jesus. When I make a mistake now, I try to immediately ask God for forgiveness. Do I confess to others? Yes, but I carefully choose who I confess to. If I have sinned I have a few trusted people I can speak with. Two prominent ones I confess to are my husband and my pastor.
The reason I say be careful who you confess to is you don’t want to confess to a gossip. Your dirty laundry doesn’t need to be told to everyone. We also don’t want to confess to someone with a lower standard of morality than us – we want to be held to God’s standard, not a sliding scale of morality. And we don’t want to confess to someone about a sin when that confession would hurt the person we are confessing to (at least until you’ve talked with a trusted pastor or advisor to make sure that such a confession would be helpful, not hurtful).
Why do we want to confess? Any sin that is hidden is an opportunity for the enemy (satan) to use against us. Hidden sins are pathways to even worse sins. By bringing our sins out in the open we can have them cleansed by God and make ourselves accountable to a trusted person to help us change the negative behavior.
My favorite part of this verse is CLEANSE us from ALL unrighteousness. Not some, not a bit, not a spot, but ALL – and when we confess our sins we are free. A burden is removed.
God does not want us walking around in oppression. He wants us to be free – Jesus died to give us liberty. Unconfessed sins keep us bound. Know that God loves us. He knows our weakness. He knows our sins. We haven’t tricked Him. He loves us before we knew Him. And as believers, we are already cleaner than when He first loved us.
About Heather Marsten
Welcome to Heather's Blog. I'm looking forward to meeting you and checking out your sites. I just moved about nine years of material over from another blog site, Xanga, who may close down mid-July. At first I was disappointed to make the move because I had a lifetime membership at Xanga and had to spend weeks transferring posts. But now I'm thrilled. Already I've met new bloggers and read many new websites. Blogging is a wonderful way to expand my horizons and garner new ideas.
I'm a happily married mom of three young adults. My husband and I are proud to watch our children grow and venture out into the world. My daughter is still in college but my two sons have graduated. One has a job and the other just graduated and is in the process of finding a job in his field, physics. Anyone know of any jobs out there? I'm proud of our children and love watching them grow and mature. They've become fine, compassionate, and loving people.
Empty nest? Nah, I'm too busy to let an empty nest bother me. Not enough hours in the day. My husband and I enjoy quiet time together and I have many interests to pursue - one of which is blogging :D
I am a born-again believer and love God. As you read this blog, you will discover that Bible studies thrill me. There is so much wisdom contained between the covers of the Bible and I am fortunate to sit under the teachings of a remarkable pastor, Pastor Don Moore. Members of our church (Living Word Chapel in West Hurley, New York) are encouraged to teach and there are visiting pastors who stop by our church, I also study the Bible on my own and love sharing what I learn.
One other passion is writing. My current work in process is a memoir. A scene from my memoir was published in a book called: Heavenly Company: Entertaining Angels Unaware - an anthology of angelic encounters compiled by Cecil Murphy.
I'm hoping my memoir will encourage other survivors of abuse. I grew up in a home filled with abuse, including incest. For most of my life I was searching for something that would fill the void of not being loved by my parents. I tried many ways to find that love -- therapy, relationships, occult studies, and keeping my life so filled I had no way to think about my past. It was only when I discovered God that I was able to put the pieces of my life back together and walk forward in a joyous life. My nickname - wondering has changed from wondering where the heck God was in my life, to wondering what incredible adventure is going to happen next.
I hope you enjoy my site. Please say hi, share some thoughts, and ask questions. I look forward to meeting you and checking out your sites.
Have a blessed day.
Heather
Healing from abuse 
If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.
You have a wise Pastor who takes you back to this verse each time you believe you have sinned. I wonder if we need to consider that when Jesus died for all our sins that included past present and future sins. AS we walk in the Light — we are continually forgiven and cleansed, and that means immediate as we recognize it. I agree, be careful who you share disgressions with – and certainly not with a gossiper.
This blessed me.. …. thanks for sharing!
This was so needed today. This was needed this weeken. Thank you for writing this. (I came over here after rereading a reply you wrote to me on beth’s blog). So thank you. Really.