It usually begins with regret, the uncanny ability to recall—and cringe at—taunting words we said on playgrounds 40 years ago. And then, in night’s small hours when the clock is our companion and our jury, the list of sins remembered grows unbearably long. There is no prosecutor so cutting and so close as a human mind turned inward on itself. Cheating on a test or cheating on a spouse; angry words or angry deeds; vengeance taken or vengeance fervently desired—the catalog of all the things for which we’ve asked forgiveness a hundred, hundred times seems endless and unreconciled. Can God forgive what we remember with such terrible exactness? Is He more kind to us than we are to ourselves? The gospel couldn’t be clearer: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). “As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from us” (Ps 103:12). “And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything” (1 Jn 3:19-20). Grace is God’s answer to regret—His way of helping us forget what He has chosen to forget. When we trust His forgiving words more than our own accusing words, we find the quiet love provides. Believe His kind, redeeming promise. And stay in grace.
-Bill Knott
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HELD BY GRACE (May 14, 2021)
WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN? (May 07, 2021)
FORGIVENESS ON A STRING (April 30, 2021)
THE GROWING SEASON (April 23, 2021)
THE CONFIDENCE OF GOD (April 16, 2021)
NO TRAVELING ALONE (April 09, 2021)
HAIL THE DAY (April 02, 2021)
UNBROKEN LOVE (March 26, 2021)
NOT FOR SALE (March 19, 2021)
THE HOUSE THAT GRACE BUILDS (March 12, 2021)
A NEW ECONOMY (March 05, 2021)
GETTING WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE (February 19, 2021)
MANNA IN OUR WILDERNESS (February12, 2021)
ASSUMED IDENTITY (February 05, 2021)
WHY GRACE MAKES US UNCOMFORTABLE (January 29, 2021)
REASSURING RHYTHMS (January 22. 2021)
RECLAIMING OUR IDENTITY (January 15, 2021)
LOVE THAT WON’T LET GO (January 08, 2021)
RENEWAL IN THE RUINS (January 01, 2021)
LOVE CAME DOWN (December 24, 2020)
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