Becoming Like Jesus: Confession and RepentanceSample

The God of Mercy

What we believe drives how we behave which determines who we become. The most influential beliefs we hold are our beliefs about God. Is He real? What is He like? Does He care about me?

The best way to know what God is really like is to learn from Jesus. And what Jesus has to show us is really good news.

Keep reading.

Pray…

Lord Jesus, teach me to know God the way you know Him. Show me how to live the way you live. Along the way, make me more like you. Today, I want to trust you fully. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read…

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 1 John 1:5 NLT

The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 34:6-7 NLT

Consider….

What do you believe about God? Do you believe that He is pure light? Do you believe that He is a God of compassion and mercy? Or do you think God is distant? Maybe He doesn’t actually care? Or maybe, you think He is just sitting around waiting for you to mess up so He can watch as your life falls apart?

What we believe drives how we behave which determines who we become.

If we don’t believe that God is light and there is no darkness in Him, then we will never bring our darkness to Him. We will keep it hidden away. Because we’ll be stuck wondering, “What if our confession is met with condemnation? What if they feel the same way about me and this thing that I do? Ashamed. Embarrassed. Disappointed.”

God is different. He’s holy. He is good and true, through and through. He doesn’t meet our confession with condemnation. Instead, He meets our confession with compassion. Because of that, we don’t have to be afraid to admit we’ve sinned, and we don’t have to be embarrassed about begging for mercy.

When you bring your darkness to Him, you will discover the truth of who He is: the God of life, light, and love.

Practice…

Bring God your darkness and ask Him for mercy.

What is mercy? Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve. Because of Jesus, the mercy of God is available for all of us. We receive that mercy by faith: trust, based on evidence, that produces obedience.

What that looks like practically is everything we’ve been talking about. It looks like confession and repentance. We start by agreeing with God that we’ve sinned. We're honest about what’s on the inside. Then, we repent. We take steps to aim our lives towards God. We change what’s on the outside.

Listen…

Find a quiet place where you can continue to spend time with God. Maybe you have a favorite chair, a certain spot in your backyard, or a particularly cozy closet. Wherever you need to go to limit distractions, do it.

Set a timer for five minutes. Ask God to speak to you. When you get distracted, come back to God by praying this Scripture:

The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 145:8 NLT

When the timer ends, thank God for the time you spent together and go into your day looking for opportunities to love Him and love others.