March 1-7th "Messing Up"

Messing Up

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Ephesians 1:7

Messing up comes naturally to us, but some mess up worse than others. One woman in Michigan was convicted for embezzling more than $10,000 from her employer. During her sentencing, she admitted, “I have shamed myself and my family, but by the grace of God they have forgiven me. It will take a long time for me to forgive myself. I know that people will never look at me again the same way, and I am very sorry.”

It’s sad to see people who have made life-altering mistakes, and sometimes it’s hard to forgive ourselves when we’re the one who sinned. Left to ourselves, we’re a constant source of shame and sorrow to ourselves and others. Since the “wages of sin is death,” we’re all condemned to hell apart from the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The essence of the Gospel is this: We have a forgiving God who will restore us if we confess our sins to Him. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. We can forgive ourselves only because He washes away our sins and makes us holy in His sight. He can clean up what we mess up. He can forgive to the uttermost.

Forgiveness costs us nothing, because it already cost Christ everything.

John MacArthur, in The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness