Friday 16th November
Read 1 John 1:5-10
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (v. 9)
It is foolish to try and deceive God about your spiritual life!
How easy it is to try to pretend to ourselves and others that things are great in our spiritual life, when they really aren’t. But when we are dishonest with ourselves and with God about our spiritual lives, it leads to our hearts becoming hard.
This passage tells us that we can either walk in the darkness or in the light. It tells us that if we walk in the darkness, we have zero chance of really fellowshipping with God, but if we walk in the light—confessing our sins, being open with God, ourselves and each other, not hiding our struggles—then we will have fellowship with God and with one another, and we will find total forgiveness and cleansing.
Yes, even as Christians we need forgiveness. Not the forgiveness of God as the judge declaring us “not guilty” and giving us eternal life. That forgiveness has been granted once and for all when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. The kind of forgiveness we need today is the forgiveness a child needs when they have disobeyed their loving father. They need to bring their disobedience into the light and ask forgiveness and make the relationship joyful again.
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