I must have been 35 years old when one day I remembered that when I was in High school there was this boy that I made fun of sometimes. Now I know he must have been autistic, but at the time nobody knew why he acted strange. Anyway, I was horrible to him on several occasions and made his life more difficult than it already was. The Holy Spirit convinced me I had to do something. So I looked him up on Facebook and sent him a message telling him I was horrible to him in high school and I apologized for my behavior. He replied and thanked me for my message. It was the only thing I could do after all those years, although it was just a small thing it was very important. Not only to him but also in the eyes of the Lord.
The same situation occured with my best friend. I lied to him about something when we were teenagers and kept it a secret for many years. You know how difficult it is to keep upholding a lie, it really is a burden. But now, 30 years later I told this friend that I lied to him back in high school because I was ashamed of myself. The power that this lie had over me is now gone and I feel free because I brought this sin into the light.
I’m telling this because I want to encourage you to do the same. Bring your sins of the past into the light of God and ask for forgiveness. Rectify what you can and humble yourself.
(1) It will bring peace for your soul and blessings from our Father who is in heaven. There are sins that can’t be confessed anymore, because that person has passed away or you have no idea where he or she is now.
(2) If you keep these sins in the darkness they may become a stumbling block for spiritual growth. Remember the story of the pharisees? They imposed a lot of laws on the people but didn’t keep these laws themselves. God hates hypocrites.
(3)If you are teaching your own children how to walk with God, then confessing your own past sins and making them right is a very powerful testimony. If you don’t do this, the devil will call you a hypocrite in front of God’s throne. Let’s take this power away from him.
Jesus died for our sins on the cross. Normally our punishment would have been eternal death, but if we follow Jesus then we receive eternal life. That does not mean that our sins in this life don’t have consequences. We have to minimize these consequences by confessing and repenting, by turning away from sin.
Remember that God hates sin and there is no expiration date. It’s not because something happened 40 or 50 years ago, it doesn’t matter anymore today. The rapture of the church is near. We must be ready and be dressed in beautiful white robes, spotless, until He comes. You can’t change the past but you can make amends.
May the Lord give you wisdom.
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