Question: I’m afraid I’ve messed up so many times God won’t forgive me again. Am I right?

Answer: No. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” ( 1 John 1:9 NKJV)  God looks at our hearts. He knows when we are being sincere in our requests for His forgiveness or just saying words we don’t really mean.  He also knows that we will keep “messing up” at times because we are all sinners.  So, as we seek forgiveness, we must also pray for God to help us repent, or turn away from, our sins and live our lives to please Him.

And, just as we want God to forgive us when we sin and give us another chance to start over, God expects us to forgive others. He does not want us to be like the servant described in Matthew 18:23-35.  In this story, we see how the king granted one person forgiveness of the enormous debt he owed the king. But, this same person refused to extend that same type of forgiveness to someone else who owed him a much smaller debt.  This person ended up suffering punishment for his failure to forgive.  In Luke 17:3, Jesus says, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”

However, just because we are expected to forgive, it doesn’t mean we stop being wise.  God also gives us wisdom. The Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  If someone is abusing you or committing some other sin,  the Bible tells us that is wrong. That would not be God’s best for your life.  You can and should forgive and pray for others without tolerating their sin.

Remember that because God loves us and extends His grace to us, He will give us another chance when we mess up.  He will forgive us of our sins if we ask Him with a sincere heart.  God wants us to repent of our sins and live our lives to please Him.  We start to please Him when we accept  His only Son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the only One God gave us who took the punishment of death we deserved for our sins.  Since sin separates us from a holy God, we can only go to Heaven by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, asking forgiveness,  and repenting of our sins.

Thank God for second chances!

(Re-posted from my June 7, 2017 Blog Post)

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