Acknowledge My Sin

5Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave

the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

I am continuing to read in Psalms.  I acknowledged my sin to God. The heart is desperately wicked, who can know it. Many years ago I found an ex wife to ask forgiveness. I thought my motive was right. We do need to ask forgiveness for our part, in any relationship that goes wrong it is not always a  50 / 50 blame. I suppose it could be, but perhaps it is 90 / 10 or any other number. We are still responsible for our part even if it is small. So indeed I thought my motive was good. I walk up to her house and I do ask for forgiveness for my part. As I turned around and walked back to my car, the thought entered my head, you can hide but I can still find you.  I thought where did that thought come from, I realized once again, my motives are not always as pure as I like to think. I have seen that many times in my life. I am thankful when God shows me myself.  Then I acknowledged my sin and did not cover up my iniquity. If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. One thing I have learned over my life time, Christians are not perfect. I remember the legalistic way I was raised. We are found perfect in Jesus, when we ask him to forgive us and to come into our hearts, he does. After that happens and God looks upon us, he sees Jesus. Our sins have been forgiven. As a young man I saw the failings in my own life, and I thought I had to be perfect, but I wasn't. Just like the small example I saw above, I wasn't perfect. I think that legalistic way of thinking does great harm, why try if I can't live it. That is the way I began to think in my twenties and I walked away from following God. Today, I live in grace, given to me by God above. 1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Romans 6:1
All these scriptures need to be kept in balance. Because we are imperfect, does not give us a license to sin. When we see sin in our heart, we confess it and take it to God. This is a lifetime process. We do ask Jesus to come into our hearts and he forgives and does dwell in our hearts. That is why we need Jesus, we are not perfect in ourselves, our perfection is found in him. When God looks at us after Jesus comes into our hearts, God sees Jesus and not our sin. If we try to live and please God by our works, we will never make it. No one is good, all have sinned. But our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. God does not see them anymore, he sees Jesus , his son, the perfect one who took away the sins of the world. This was so freeing to me. to be living in God's grace, and understanding that I did not need to be perfect. I cannot fix myself, God takes us just as we are, and he does the work in our hearts. I didn't wake up the morning after I became a Christian and had it all understood, from Genesis to Revelation. It is a lifestyle, a daily living from that point when I first accepted Jesus into my life. God does the work in our hearts from that moment on. I could never live a life good enough on my own. I am thankful for God's grace. There is a song "I Am Redeemed." These words are found in that song, If someone should ask who that I am, tell them I AM REDEEMED.  It is through Jesus, I am found perfect in God's sight, not by my works. God bless, LVZ.