FORGIVE AND BE FORGIVEN
Jenna Worsham
Today's Scripture: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9, ESV
Theme: Failure is not final; it’s forgivable.
PEFECTIONISM
Often, things I think of as failures aren’t even failures. There isn’t anything wrong with doing my best, unless it paralyses me if my best isn’t THE best. My mom is an amazing baker. She has made many beautiful and professional wedding cakes, including mine. You know what she does really well? She fixes blunders without freaking out. She makes beauty out of what looked like a mess. I’ve seen her repair a cracked cake, re-frost a section that someone bumped into and smashed, and fix cake batter that was missing an ingredient, even after it was already poured into pans to bake. It looked like a mess. I would have quit. In fact, I have quit – ready to throw out whatever I was in the middle of baking. When I'd “fail,” mom would pop in with a quick solution and some help, no problem. Persistence, know-how, experience, and wisdom beats perfectionism and over-thinking every time. Failure is not final. Honestly, things I would have considered failures didn’t even have to be failures.
“IT’S NOT A SIN, JENNA”
I often find myself apologizing for strange things. My co-worker and pastor, Josh Miller, used to tease me when I’d over-apologize by saying, “It’s not a sin, Jenna!” Initially, this confused me. Every shortcoming or quirk that I didn’t like about myself, every family problem, or limitation I had deemed unacceptable wasn't sin? Instead, most of the things I was apologizing for were human things, the result of being a finite person and not an infinite God. I fidget. I clean when I’m upset. I pace when I’m talking on the phone. I sometimes miss appointments, forget things, or show up late when I’m really trying to be on time.
EVEN WHEN IT IS A SIN
Clearly, there are many situations when I do sin. I hurt people. I lose my temper. I fail to love the poor. When I do sin, I must acknowledge and confess. But that’s not all! God has asked me to do more than seek forgiveness. Right after Jesus shows us how to pray the Lord’s Prayer, He gives us instructions for how we can be forgiven. We pray like Jesus and ask God to forgive. Failures, sins, missteps are all forgivable... if. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15, ESV).
Make It Personal: Forgiving myself and others can be challenging. I’m learning that God expects us to forgive partly so that we can accept forgiveness. How could forgiving someone close to you set you free to receive forgiveness from God?
Pray: God, thank You for forgiving me and teaching me to forgive others (and myself). Help me to accept my own and others’ limitations. Limitations aren’t always sins and judging harshly does not help. I wasn’t meant to be the judge. Thank You for the friends who love me, even when I’m a mess. Help me to appreciate the gifts and talents around and within me. I want to choose contentment and gratitude. You are the final Word. Failure is temporary and redemption is available. Thank You for reminding me that You raise dead things to life. There isn’t anything You can’t do. What a powerful and life-giving God we serve. Amen.
Read: Matthew 6:5-14; Luke 6:37-38; Micah 7:8
Weekly Memory Verse: “For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” Proverbs 24:16, ESV