Stories of Forgiveness
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
INSIGHT
Our verse today is one that leans towards the more-well-known parts of Scripture, and one that people enjoy reading since it is an incredible promise that Christ followers are given. The confession of our sins leads to our forgiveness from those sins.
This verse is a beautiful reminder of what the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus accomplished. He was able to remove sin from our lives that we could never remove no matter how “good” of a person we might become. But I feel there is something we often miss with this verse.
In the past, when I heard this verse, I immediately thought of my own life. It was as though my brain automatically converted this verse from the first-person collective pronouns, to first-person singular pronouns. I would hear that MY confession leads to MY sins being forgiven, and I am cleansed from unrighteousness. While I do not believe there is anything wrong with that perspective, it does limit the true weight of this verse.
When this verse is viewed with the collective, “we,” it reminds us that we all have sinned, and none of us can do anything about it. It is amazing how quick we can be to admit fault and receive grace, yet someone can do something similar, and we forget they are not perfect human beings!
This verse needs to serve as a reminder that we are all products of grace. We all contribute to the sin that plagues the world, and yet, we are all able to receive the same fullness of forgiveness from our Savior. The economy of our Savior does not put more weight on certain sins nor does it consider one person more or less deserving of grace. In Jesus’ economy: all sinned yet all can be forgiven.
One of the beautiful ways Jesus has created us is that we are not other people’s saviors, but we have an opportunity to care for them. We can do this by lovingly sharing with them that our confession of who Jesus is, sets us free from sin.
I have never heard of a person coming to follow Jesus because someone yelled at them about how bad they were. But I have seen relief in the faces of those that I have walked with and told them about how sinful I was, and yet I am forgiven. Most people already recognize they make bad decisions, but sometimes we forget that we all sin and we all are in need of forgiveness.
How differently would the world view Christ followers if our first step in a conversation about Christ was how he saved us, versus how sinful someone else is? Sin is serious business, so serious that Jesus gave his life to set us free from it. Now, we can make forgiveness serious business. Let’s lead by example – giving people a glimpse of forgiveness with our stories.
REFLECTION
● Have you ever told someone your journey of discovering Jesus’ forgiveness?
● Spend some time thanking Jesus for undeserved forgiveness and pray for someone who needs to hear that their sin can be forgiven!
PRAYER
Father, there is no way to wrap my head around the sacrifice you made so that I could be forgiven. I am not forgiven with each confession of how sinful I am. Rather, I stand forgiven with my recognition of you as my Savior. Teach me to tell my story in a way that leads others to see you are ready to forgive them as well. May we contribute to a spread of forgiveness in this world that can only come from you. In your name I pray, Amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.