Repentant people realize that inexcusable wrong can either be judged or forgiven, never understood and overlooked, and so they beg for forgiveness with no thought of deserving it. Truly repentant people are the ones who begin to grasp Gods amazing grace, the ones who know that they need only confess to experience the forgiveness that is always there in infinite supply.
Wether we are adulteres or thoughtless spouses, the problem with all of us is that we stubbornly regard our interpersonal failures not as inexcusable selfish choices, but as understandable mistakes. The things our spouses do to us seem more like the former, the things we do to the more like the latter.
excuse making has been a natural tendency in people ever since Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake. Without some means of self justification , we would be forced to face ourselves squarely as we really are, Coprru[pt by Gods standards and deserving punishment.
And seeing ourselves as we are would mean taking our place as condemmed sinners, worthy of judgement, powerless to improve ourselves, humbled that our very best deeds provide no defense, and utterly at the mercy of a righteously angry Judge. THis doesnt sound like much fun. Surely the path to the top would never begin with a descent THIS STEEP. How can joy imerge from such misery?
Perhaps the hardest thing to get through our heads is that this painful point of nakedness and humility is not only where life begins but also where joyful growth continues.
1 JOhn 1:5-10
5
Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, 2 and in him there is no darkness at all.
6
If we say, "We have fellowship with him," while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.
7
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
8
If we say, "We are without sin," we deceive ourselves, 3 and the truth is not in us.
9
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
10
If we say, "We have not sinned," we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Psalms 51:1
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wether we are adulteres or thoughtless spouses, the problem with all of us is that we stubbornly regard our interpersonal failures not as inexcusable selfish choices, but as understandable mistakes. The things our spouses do to us seem more like the former, the things we do to the more like the latter.
excuse making has been a natural tendency in people ever since Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake. Without some means of self justification , we would be forced to face ourselves squarely as we really are, Coprru[pt by Gods standards and deserving punishment.
And seeing ourselves as we are would mean taking our place as condemmed sinners, worthy of judgement, powerless to improve ourselves, humbled that our very best deeds provide no defense, and utterly at the mercy of a righteously angry Judge. THis doesnt sound like much fun. Surely the path to the top would never begin with a descent THIS STEEP. How can joy imerge from such misery?
Perhaps the hardest thing to get through our heads is that this painful point of nakedness and humility is not only where life begins but also where joyful growth continues.
1 JOhn 1:5-10
5
Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, 2 and in him there is no darkness at all.
6
If we say, "We have fellowship with him," while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.
7
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
8
If we say, "We are without sin," we deceive ourselves, 3 and the truth is not in us.
9
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
10
If we say, "We have not sinned," we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Psalms 51:1
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
