Kristin Reynolds, Advancement Chair, Children’s Council member, Member since 2000

Center yourself on today’s reflection by lighting a candle and reciting this breath prayer:
Inhale – Cleanse our hearts, Lord, by your Spirit
Exhale – that we might praise your holy name. 

Psalm 51:1-4 (NIV)
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.

Reflection:
I don’t know about you, but at times I struggle to admit when I am wrong or have sinned. Why is confessing so hard? Is it because it requires us to examine the areas of our lives where we fall short of God’s teachings and we realize how much we have hurt him? 

I have tried to instill in my children that even though it is not easy to do, it is important to tell the truth when we make mistakes not only because it allows us to be forgiven but also allows us to grow closer to God. We have all heard the quote, “And the truth shall set you free,” but I was unaware that it came from the Bible (John 8:32). When we are truthful and remorseful with God about our sins we are “set free” from it and our misery.  

King David was a man with a godlike heart who had remarkable faith in God yet David also had many flaws and transgressions. I can feel David’s urgency in his petition and his need for forgiveness when he says, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love.” He doesn’t begin his prayer with praising God, he just jumps right in and asks for mercy. There are times in our lives we need to do just that, jump right in with both feet and plead for God’s forgiveness. It is hard to hear God’s words to us or follow his path for our lives when we ignore our mistakes and don’t take ownership of them. While it is a difficult realization to know that sinning disappoints and offends God, it is necessary in order to understand his faithful love and mercy. As Beth Moore states in her book Portraits of Devotion, “ When we leave sin unconfessed, we scoff at the cross.” 

The season of Lent invites all of us daily to look at how we have sinned in our thoughts, words and deeds and take those sins to God with urgency so we may be forgiven and set free.  

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for never-ending mercy and love. I pray in the times I have sinned I will urgently seek your forgiveness with a humble heart and will be set free. In your glorious name, I pray. Amen.