Forgiveness ...

Friday, Mar 9, 2012. There are days when you realize that you did something wrong. You did not succeed. You did not do what you should have done. And now the consequences are starting to affect you.

Mistakes …

Humans are not perfect. But more than that, we do a lot of mistakes. It is not only about wrong spelling of words or bugs in a programme we write in computer science. It is about things we do which we should not do.

We use words against others which we should not have used. We drink too much. We hurt others, with things we do, with words, with physical actions, with rules we set up and barriers we generate. When we do something, which we should not have done, it is guilt. When we should have done something, but do not carry it out, it is guilt.

How do we manage our failures, our mistakes, our guilt? How do we deal with it? Do we ignore it? When the consequences reach us, we cannot ignore it, we might have to live with it. Do we try to hide? Do we run away? We need a way to deal with guilt, it is very important! But do we know a way?

New Testament Spirit

The New Testament offers a path to deal with guilt. It is the path of forgiveness. It is the path of Jesus. One of the main activities he carried out during his ministry was to forgive people. He told them: you are forgiven. Your guilt is taken away. Go, you are free!

The apostles tell us many times, that we should confess our guilt to each others. That is spoken to Christians, to those who walk with Jesus. Confess your guilt, and then forgive each other, again and again. Life carries guilt, and so confession and forgiveness is needed.

In fact, with God's forgiveness the power of the most high enters our life. He will not necessarily take away the consequences of our guilt. But he can do it. He can change everything. He can help us with a new beginning, again and again if we continue to fail. And he has the power to heal and to restore, than means he can really interact with our reality and change us. He can make a difference! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts