The one who covers his transgressions will not prosper,
but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death.
II Cor. 7:9-10
There were two layers to these verses that really hit home for me this week.
The first one is the more obvious, although very hard to do in practice.
Bringing sin and transgression into the light, and repenting.
It’s painful, it’s embarrassing, and we should know better, we’re a bit ashamed. But then every time we confess, we experience God’s forgiveness in Messiah afresh again. It’s especially hard when we’ve sinned against someone we love, I’ve recently been convicted about some poor attitudes I’ve been having about my job. It’s a hectic time in the fall if you work for a church. As I look forward to a lunch with my boss/senior pastor, I feel God moving on my heart to confess some of that and ask for his forgiveness.
The second layer is outside the narrative of II Cor., but it’s a huge part of it that my generation is missing:
Who is my Paul?
Who is going to check in with me? Call me out on my sin so that I may have Godly sorrow leading to repentance?
One of the things I seek to change in the coming season of life will be to have someone in my life like that, a spiritual mentor who can be a part of my growth towards Jesus. It’s something I love being for other people as I do ministry, but often find I have a lack of in my own life.
Sixty-six books in a year 