“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:36-39)
I was frustrated with another therapist. None of our patients were ready, and she did nothing to help the nursing staff. After I dressed my first patient and took her to the gym, the therapist still sat in the gym complaining that the nursing staff was lazy and her patients weren’t ready. Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I later said something to another therapist who told me she would be sure to keep what I said quiet so no one would know I was gossiping.
I was angry at first because I thought she could have been gentler, but she convicted me as Peter convicted those who were responsible for killing Jesus by telling them they crucified their Messiah. They were cut to the heart as I was and were very upset, responding, “What shall we do?”
Since most of us have been baptized, all we have to do is repent our wrongdoings. When we do, God forgives us and by His grace, sees us as righteous. But we need to forgive ourselves so we can live in the peace of Jesus. Remember, He suffered for you for no reason if you don’t live in His peace. God’s promises are for you and all of us.
Dearest Father in heaven, I praise you for Your grace of forgiveness. Let me live stress-free always knowing You will care for me and take care of my enemies. Convict me when I do something wrong so I can repent and apologize. Help me be gentle and loving and let others know Your promises for them. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
I know that I am forgiven when I ask the Lord to forgive me. The hard part for me is forgiving myself. This has proved to be a real struggle for me at times. I know that I need to forgive myself because Jesus died to release my sin but it is hard. Is that hard for you too, Jody? I just imagine most people struggle with this at some point in their life.
Hey, Sis. I have forgiven myself for everything I’ve done in the past. It may have taken a while a long time ago, but now that I know the sacrifice Jesus made for me so I can be happy and have peace, it is no longer difficult. I haven’t made really bad mistakes in awhile, mostly wrong things I say because I’m not as gentle as I should be. But I’m working on that and on craving God instead of food. It is going a lot better. I have had two writing groups in the last two days, so I need to get back to posting on my website.