The joy of forgiveness

That warm Sunday in January comes to mind when I gave my life to the Lord. I felt so empty, so dirty from the damage caused by my sinful life, that I never imagined that God would forgive me. Shame tormented me, my pride crumbled in His presence, and the tears held by my false and confused appreciation of need blurred my vision and bathed my insides. I had before me the most difficult of tasks, the most difficult: confess my sins, sincerely repent and feel the certainty of God's willingness to forgive me. Could it be possible? Would I feel peace in my heart again and ... be happy?

Years ago I wrote in my personal testimony: And the Lord appeared to me without expecting it. The foundation of a pedestal that I had built on a swampy, dangerous, moving and infertile ground shook me with a breath ... and one of the many eyeless mornings in which I died in those days, he took me in his arms and I was able to say a prayer to him. desperate, broken, hopeful and wet ...

That one morning prayer "without eyes" because insomnia consumed me, was my confession, the first resounding confession of my sins with their names and surnames. My spirit scattered in a thousand groans crying out for forgiveness. It was a howl of regrets.

The answer came to me an hour after I had said to the Lord: yes, I need you Jesus! The light of the Lord blinded me and brought me down - as it blinded Saul on the road to Damascus. It was a powerful light of peace and infinite happiness that I could not understand. The feeling of restoration, the end of torture embodied in sin, began to rebuild a busy and contaminated existence, to turn my lament into joy.

Brother and sister who read this reflection, this is the recurring theme in the Psalms called penitential because they are songs of confession of sins and promises of restoration and forgiveness from God. They are Psalms 6, 14, 31, 32, 38, 41, 51, 102, 130 and 143. They remind us how vulnerable we are and how easy it is to which is interrupting our relationship with God because of disobedience. It is also the recurring theme in your life and in mine. Unconfessed sin robs us of joy, leads us again and again to face grief, to plunge into sadness, to feel miserable. You and I can have a joyful experience if we surrender to Him our transgression, our iniquity, the sin that is now before our lives and takes away the joy of the Lord. God made an irreversible covenant with us by sending Christ to die on the cross and bear all the sins of the world so that today his grace would be abundant. He is forgiving by nature, merciful in his essence and wants to teach us the paths we should walk in order not to sin. We are blessed to feel forgiven.

If the burden of unconfessed sin to God - to Him alone - torments you; If the joy that you used to show as a testimony of a pleasant and full life in Christ no longer accompanies you, surrender your heart once more to your Lord, tell him what you feel; tell him as David did: I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord; and you forgave the wickedness of my sin (Psalm 32: 5).

If you don't know the Lord, what a beautiful opportunity to get right with your creator! You don't need candles, or flowers, or strange banners, or aromatic incense, or spell stones. Just your heart! The Lord knows him, he wants you to give him to him, because after all he is. When you confess your sin and repent, the light of the forgiving Christ will flood you with forgiveness, you will experience the joy of salvation and you will no longer be a slave and captive of evil; your life will find perspective and true direction and the Lord of mercy will let you see his glory. The joy of a forgiven life is the purest balm that brings joy and peace to the heart. God bless you!

To deepen the reflection: The joy of a life forgiven, sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda.