4:26 – My Bad. It’s Me, Not You!

#faithbites #faithjourney bad

Setting

Yesterday a colleague offered someone to help me with a long term project I was working on. I responded very defensively and escalated the situation very quickly. I felt that they were trying to take something away from me, something that I had worked a long time on. It took me a day to really reflect and realize that the person was just offering help. Many hands lighten the load. I couldn’t sleep well as I realized that I had wronged this person in my attempt to defend my project. First thing this morning, I called and explained why I acted the way I did and offered my humble apologies. My colleague forgave me, understood where I was coming from, and we can now work better together. It took me saying this was my mistake, my bad. I am sorry.

Have you had a situation where you just need to take responsibility for your actions? How did that feel? What made you take the risk of rejection and blame to just admit it and ask forgiveness?

Scripture

Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Reflection

Today’s reflection is easy: If we try to conceal what we do wrong, we will not prosper. That’s it. We need to confess and ask forgiveness. While we may not get forgiveness from those we wronged but Christ will always forgive us. We can’t force human forgiveness but the Lord’s forgiveness is always free.

If I look at my situation, my bad, I probably could have gotten by without saying anything. We would still work together and it would have been ok. For me, it would have festered and kept bothering me. For my colleague, they may not know what was bothering them, but this would be festering.

So for today, all we need to do is admit when we are wrong. That’s it. We can’t be worried about the consequences on earth as consequences beyond are much more severe. We want to prosper and Jesus wants us to prosper as well. That comes with admitting what we’ve done wrong and asking for forgiveness.

Are you ready to admit what you’ve done? Are you ready to accept Jesus’s forgiveness?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiving us all of our sins. We aren’t worthy of your love and forgiveness but thank you for it. Lord, we ask you to help us admit our wrongs and face the music. Help those we confess to, forgive us. We know they may not and that is par for the course. Our forgiveness comes from you and it is complete. Thank you, Lord for always being the answer to our prayers, Amen.