Daily Devotional

Psalm 51 was written by King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah, who was the captain of his armies and his faithful, loyal servant. Do we serve a forgiving God? The answer is yes. Psalm 51 is a great example of how even the most faithful and God-fearing man can sin against the Lord. God called David, “A man after His own heart”. (1 Sam.13:14). And even with this title, David was still tempted, still fell into sin, still had a sinful nature, and still acted on that nature committing one of the most heinous acts of sinfulness.

But after David realized he had sinned before the Lord, he humbled his heart and began to seek God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. He understood the importance of God’s forgiveness and the value of confessing his sin before the Lord in humility.

To live in purity means regularly confessing your sins to the Lord. Perhaps you’ve heard of the ‘prayer acronym’ A-C-T-S. I think of it often during my prayer time. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Of these four aspects of prayer, confession is the hardest, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. The Bible says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn.1:9)

How can I be forgiven of my sins?

1. Confess - Admit your sins to God. Name them specifically. Accept the fact that these sins are what separates you from Him.

2. Repent - Which means “to turn around”. Change your ways. It’s more than an apology, it’s a change of heart where you literally turn away from your sin and turn toward God. How do you turn toward God? Read God’s Word and obey it.

3. Believe - Know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God’s promise to forgive you is true. Believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covers your sins.

4. Make amends - Your sin not only hurts you, it hurts others, so take steps to apologize to those you’ve hurt and ask for their forgiveness. Take necessary steps to make things right.

5. Live free - Follow God’s will, which is found in His Word, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul writes “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom.6:4)

Forgiveness for sin is a gift that comes to us through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. It is based on the love and mercy of God, not on our good works or behavior. So walking in purity before God means relying on His grace, seeking His face, and regularly confessing our sins to the Lord. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

New International Version (NIV)
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