(By Dr. Doug Weiss) In Bible college, I cried out to God and constantly looked for Scriptures to help me get free. Early in my walk with Jesus, I found a very familiar Scripture that anyone who fails, again and again, can cling to for forgiveness. Here is what I found: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
When I messed up, I did what you probably do as well. I knelt down, sometimes crying for Jesus to forgive and cleanse me. Like you, I experienced true forgiveness. I felt the forgiveness of Jesus. I believed his blood had more power than my sin in which I was choosing to participate. I felt cleansed, and this would last for days or weeks until I acted out in the sin again; then Wham-O! The guilt and shame came back, and I would be forgiven again. I think you get the picture. Most of you lived in the same movie: act out in your addiction patterns (sin), ask for forgiveness and do it all over again. This pattern is all too familiar for most of us. I was confessing my sin to Jesus. He was forgiving me. Why wasn’t I getting any better? READ MORE
