God's Forgiveness through Christ

 Luke 17: And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.  Pay attention to yourselves!  If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him.'

In the Anglican Book of Common Prayer I am always drawn to The Confession of Sin. We say it before the peace.  The Confession has always been a window into my soul during the service, a chance to let my heart pour out before God, even if I am weak in hope, destitute by fear and I let my pride coax me.  I feel the Holy Spirit working with me almost as a counselor when I say this prayer, guiding me to know God's will through Jesus Christ as I am forgiven my sins.

 Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

As we continue in the path of the Passion, it is important for us to look inward while letting God's light shine in.  You can hide your sins and doubts, but light illumines the darkness.  The only way to cure cancer is to acknowledge the tumor.  I try to say this prayer every day to clear my mind and keep my soul pure so I can be fully in tune with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Christ is ready to forgive us our sins, he is ready to accept us into his Holy Name in the banner of heaven with love and grace - we must first humble ourselves before him - admitting our faults, our fears, our anxieties - Christ can bind and heal all woulds - if we let go and let HIM.  Part of the confession is TRUST, in addition to being humble and sincere (something we all struggle with in varying times of our life) we must TRUST in the forgiveness as absolute and not dwell on the sin any longer.  Take the lessons learned, but don't ruminate on the sin or let guilt weigh you down - God has forgiven you by grace - HIS will be done.  I know I have a hard time forgiving my mistakes, even if they are not 'sins' per say as much as circumstances I'd like to redo - I know when we ask God to cleanse that hurt and pain - he will - he wants us to learn from our transgressions so we might understand 'why' it was a mistake and God's truth so we won't stumble again - and when we do we'll have direct recourse to Christ.

I have found the more I examine my life, the restless worrier, anxious doer and faithful servant who feels at times forgotten or it is my duty to not fulfill the desires of my heart - that my worry and rumination, nitpicking, self-loathing do not pay homage to Christ, but rather block me from coming into full communion with him and all HIS saints and angels.  We must be willing to learn to humble ourselves, but also be willing to let go and let GOD - fear and hate paralyze. 

I know I am a sinner.  I have been so focused on my fear of not having enough food or money that I often nitpick and scrutinize my choices - attending college out of state (they had the best department in my field), not being successful enough in my career, not being thinner...I let this build a wall between me and God instead of asking God to show me the way - where am I supposed to go - what is my role in life - Here I am LORD.  I find God speaks to us in the quiet depths of our soul, in unexpected places - but we need to listen - part of that is letting go of regret, anger, guilt and desperation - instead give it to God with a sincere heart and allow him to heal you and show you how to be healed.  Christ forgives our sins, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to suffer repercussions on earth for sin - there is a reaction to every choice - forgiveness and grace means it won't take God away from your soul and he will allow you to be lifted up and to learn from the suffering.  God won't forsake us through Christ we are saved, and we have the Holy Spirit as our guide! 3 in 1 - one God to love, guide, protect and save us!

Confessing our sins is also about forgiving others, when we pray The Lord's Prayer we say 'forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us.'  God wants us to forgive others because anger keeps us from HIS love.  Forgiveness doesn't not condone an action - rather it turns it over to God's care.

Forgiveness is the highest reflection of God's love, forgive and be forgiven, love even if love means leaving a difficult situation - God will heal you through HIS son Christ Jesus!