Marty60

I find that if I hang onto hurts and unforgiveness, it just binds me to that person or persons and I am always consumed with revenge. I have discovered over the years that forgiveness is not a "feeling" but an act of my will. My choice to forgive and turn that person over to God. That frees me up to see them as God sees them and to love them with His love. It is hard sometimes because many of us have hurts that have festered in our hearts and we don't always recognize the pain and woundedness for what it is. Forgiveness brings freedom and allows us to trust God. I am thankful that my sins have been forgiven and that Jesus always stands as my advocate before the Father. I have been forgiven much and I pray that I may forgive just as much.

I believe that not confessing is my way of trying to rationalize my behavior, instead of admitting that I am wrong. Then I tend to cover it up and continue to commit the sin. By confessing I am admitting that I am sinning and it frees me to recieve God's pardon and helps me to turn away from sin and seek to apply His word and direction in my life. I believe that forgiveness automatically comes when we confess to God our wrong doings, the cleansing comes when we turn away from the sin and seek to live a purer life in Him and for Him.

What spoke to me here is that some sins can be inner character flaws that sometimes as "mature christians" we are not even aware of. We have already dealt with the heavy stuff when we first came to Christ but as the years go by these character flaws still are there and we aren't always aware of them as sins. In my personal life, I find that although I am free of the darkness that held me before I became a Christian, I have to daily work on those other flaws , ie: gossiping, laziness in studing the word and others. I feel that already this study is talking to me personally, God's way of getting my attention to spend more time with Him and to work on those things in my life that are not pleasing to Him.I know that if I willfully continue to ignore these flaws that God is bringing to my attention He can't bless my life and I will not be an effective witness to Him in my daily interaction with others. Also if I walk in the Light I will also deepen my relationships with other Christians. I am thankful that God is faithful and just when I confess these failings and by the power of the Holy Spirit teaches and corrects me so that I may change these things in my life that aren't pleasing to Him.

Hi, I am Marty from Connecticut. I am looking forward to this study.