Between You And God #8

Dear God, I did something bad. I told you that I was sorry and asked you to forgive me, but how do I know you really have?

Once a girl hurt her friend’s feelings by saying something mean. When she figured it out, she said she was sorry, didn’t make an excuse for it, and promised to never say mean things again. She asked her friend to forgive her. The friend said she did forgive her, but she really didn’t. She gave her rude looks and stopped hanging out with her. She didn’t mean it when she said she had forgiven her friend, and the friendship died.

God isn’t like that. When he says something, he means it. He tells us that if we ask him to forgive us, he will. He also tells us that after he forgives us, he completely forgets about the bad thing we did. He never holds a grudge against us, and he doesn’t leave us out of his plans or his Kingdom because of it. He doesn’t remind us about it the next time we do something wrong. He is happy that because of true repentance we can be close to him, and others, again.

If you have told God that you were truly sorry, you meant it, and you asked him to forgive you, you can be 100 percent certain that you are forgiven. If you’ve never done that, you need to go somewhere private and say, “Lord, I am sorry for wrong things I did. I never want to do them again, and I take all the blame myself. Please forgive me for those sins.”

Feel that great big hug he’s giving you?

How about You?

Have you ever told God you were sorry for your sins and asked him to forgive you, because Jesus died for you? Did you believe that he forgave you, or did you apologize over and over and still feel that he was mad at you?

God Says . . .

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