Admit you made a mistake and ask God for forgiveness

By Pastor Di on 12/10/09

“When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long.  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me, my strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Finally I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them….and you forgave me!  All my guilt is gone!” Psalm 32:3-5

I remember when I was 13 or so and babysitting for a family.  The mom had left me a note asking me to heat up some leftovers in the fridge for dinner for her kids.  The leftovers were in Tupperware.  I didn’t know that Tupperware could not go in the OVEN.  After a few minutes in a hot oven, that Tupperware melted!  When the mom got home she asked me what happened to the Tupperware!  I lied and told her I didn’t know.  She never asked me to babysit again.

I don’t know why our first instinct is almost always to lie.  We, as human beings, do not like to admit that we have messed up.  So we cover up, lie, deceive or ignore our mistakes….hoping to escape consequences, apologies and punishment. 

David, who penned the words above and was known as a “man after God’s own heart,” was also a man who made huge mistakes.  In II Samuel 11 we see that along with worship, courage, and obedience to God, David is also capable of adultery, deception and pre meditated murder.  David fell, and he fell HARD.  Brandon and I warned students for years that sin will always “take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever wanted to pay.” 

But the one thing that stands out to me about David is his willingness to admit his sin.  When confronted by a prophet of the Lord in II Samuel 12 David confesses “I have sinned.”  Following that statement David fasts from food, and lies on his face before God weeping and pleading for the life of an innocent baby for seven days.  On the seventh day, the baby died.  Not only did David confess his sin and repent for it, but we then see that he chose to trust God and accept the consequences for his sin by getting up, washing himself and worshipping the Lord.

If you have made mistakes, join the club, but be willing to admit them, ask God for forgiveness and accept the consequences of your actions.  Then at the end of our lives we can still be described as someone after God’s heart.

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