Rick Warren's Daily DevotionalSample

Admitting Your Mistakes We've all been irresponsible. But God doesn't want you going around with a heavy guilt trip about all the irresponsibility in your life. He wants you to go around with a sense of promise and hope. He will help you overcome your sins, he can even bring good out of the stupid decisions that you've made in your life, if you'll give them to Him. Sometimes we feel so guilty and ashamed of irresponsible actions we've taken that the guilt and shame actually perpetuate the problem and we keep doing it. "I blew it so I'm bad. Since I'm bad, I'm going to blow it again." It's a cycle that you can't seem to get out of. The guilt and the shame actually keep you locked in a lifestyle of irresponsibility. You make one dumb decision after another. What you need is a power beyond yourself. What you need is a savior who can forgive your sins, clear your conscience and break out of that cycle. Here's the good news: "All of us have fallen short, yet now God declares us not guilty if we trust in Jesus Christ who freely takes away our sins." (Romans 3:23-24)