Once you come to know, really know, Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are saved forever. Taking our sins on Himself as He went to the cross, and placing in us His righteousness, we become new creations. But living in this world presents opportunities every minute and around every bend, to do the things we know we shouldn’t, and to not do what we know we should.
Often landing ourselves in mud puddles of our own doing—
~ whether by a slow deceptive drift away from the truth;
~ or an eddy that we are pulled into and can’t get out of;
~ or even the human skin we live in that sometimes, microsecond by microsecond, trips us up with good intentions—
we all land in the same boat of needing His correction.
Because we belong to the Lord and have His righteousness, we are already clean, but as Jesus did for the disciples, we find we are in terrible need for our feet to be washed by Him.
Confession is a beautiful gift from the Lord. Without it, we would needlessly carry rusacks overflowing with sin and brokenness that we cannot possibly bear, fix, or even hope to be rid of. Without it we would almost die.
For it is when we confess our sin, that Jesus tells us, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (See 1 John 1:9.)
Delivering us from that which we can’t escape, delivering us from that which is holding us hostage, is something only He can do. But when He does, such freedom descends unlocking our hearts and lives to live as sons and daughters of the Most High, far beyond what we can imagine or think.
As this new life within us continues to blossom, pushing out old patterns and ways of thinking— serving up judgement for others—begins to take more and more of a back seat in our hearts. For when you know where you have been, what you are capable of, and yet, have experienced mercy, your heart only wants to give the same hope and joy that, like a blessing, has been lavished on you.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:12-17 ESV
“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalm 85:10)
Compassion and confession go hand-in-hand.
He truly does save us in His love.
