1 Peter 1:3
"Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death."
In our heads it easy to understand that we are forgiven. It is easy to say that you are made clean again and that your sins are gone.
But knowing God's forgiveness is an entirely different matter. And we cannot know his mercy until we know our own sin. Lenten sacrifice is a perfect tool to help us learn our own sins.
Wait. Learn our own sin? You would think that we already know it. But we have a great defense mechanism called repression and we use it a lot. We accept our own sin and excuse ourselves from it. If you really went through your day and remembered every single time you put something else before God in your thoughts...
This isn't about hating yourself. But in order to know the fullness and greatness of God's mercy, you have to know what it overcomes in you. You have to know what God's forgiven you for. You have to realize how much you fall short and how much God still wants you to be a part of his eternal family.
Take a moment and think about two things. First, think about all the things that you've put ahead of God and accept those moments as sins, big or little or slight or whatever. Then go back through your day and think about all the moments that God touched your life. These are moments of survival, happiness, peace, a lucky break, the sunset, a fat squirrel. Whatever made you stop and smile.
Now compare the two. Maybe one list is longer than the other. It doesn't matter. Just look at the lists and use them to help you realize God's incredible love for you. Knowing him, knowing the weight and necessity of his sacrifice, this is what Lent was made for.
Have Knowing day
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