Make It Right by Confessing Right Away

In review of Psalm 103:3-4 it says, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.”

Bottom Line:

The Lord will forgive our wrong-doing, and provide healing when we get sick, he will protect us from death, and will surround us with his steadfast love and mercy.

What this means to me:

He forgives all my sins and heals me when I’m sick. He redeems me from destruction and surrounds me with his loving kindness and tender mercies.

One thing is for certain, I will stumble. I shouldn’t try to live a perfect life, rather the key will be to face and let go of my failures quickly. This means that I shouldn’t try to cover them up, or blame others, and certainly not excuse myself. I should own up to it, quickly.

Often it's easy to ask for forgiveness of sins of the past. However it’s much more difficult to confess and forsake the ones that just occurred. My ego can get in the way of confessing a sin at the moment.  But what I’m learning is that a key to spiritual growth is to confess my sin instantly. Let it go! Don’t let them pile up. Take out the garbage on a daily basis.

I do this by my own self-examination. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:31, “If we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way” (NLT). God says I can either judge myself or he can judge me. Part of my growth process is to own up to my sin right away and say, “God, I stumbled again. I don’t want to , but I did. I just need to admit it to God, and then let it go.

This means that I shouldn’t beat myself up; or tear myself down. Rather say, “God thank you. I’m not the way I used to be. Yeah, I dropped the ball, but I’m going to pick it up again. And I’m going to try to do better and be better. I’m going to focus on the future and not on the past.”

I have to remember God’s character. He is not going to say, “Oh, come on! Not that sin again! Can’t you come up with any new ones? You’ve come to me with that sin 9,900 times. I’ve already forgiven you 9,900 times!” No. God is love. He never tires of providing forgiveness. He’s just waiting on me.

Psalm 103:3-4 says, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.” This verse reminds me that God won’t criticize me with judgment and scorn. He wants to bless me with love and mercy. God will give me what I need, not what I deserve.

So, when I stumble, I just need to go to God right away and say, “One more time, Lord. I need your forgiveness.” It’s the starting point.