First testimony

[Geoghegan]

::timed out::

 

[faroukfarouk]

Short version: My life had hit "crash" and all I wanted to do was come back to God. I was under the impression that in order for me to be forgiven, that I had to confess everything I had done to those affected by my sins. I couldn't bear the idea of hurting anyone more, so I resigned myself to going to hell instead. I was so sad... then as I was pulling out of work through the parking garage at the hospital, a voice said, "you confess your sins to me."

Changed the course of my life.

At any rate, I am not negating the need for confession. I was just so overwhelmed by it as a burden and not as a relief that Jesus lifted that burden from me and let me know that what mattered was that I had confessed these sins to Him. I would never have pursued God had the Holy Spirit not spoken that to me.

As my walk continues, I feel like I am in a jungle with a scythe and a spork. lol
And here I am.

Good to see you on the forums.

Regular prayer and Bible reading are so important in one's walk with the Lord.

John's Gospel is a wonderful book of the Bible to get to know well; and John's First Epistle - short, only 5 chapters - has various of the themes that you mention.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Short version: My life had hit "crash" and all I wanted to do was come back to God. I was under the impression that in order for me to be forgiven, that I had to confess everything I had done to those affected by my sins. I couldn't bear the idea of hurting anyone more, so I resigned myself to going to hell instead. I was so sad... then as I was pulling out of work through the parking garage at the hospital, a voice said, "you confess your sins to me."

Changed the course of my life.

At any rate, I am not negating the need for confession. I was just so overwhelmed by it as a burden and not as a relief that Jesus lifted that burden from me and let me know that what mattered was that I had confessed these sins to Him. I would never have pursued God had the Holy Spirit not spoken that to me.

As my walk continues, I feel like I am in a jungle with a scythe and a spork. lol
And here I am.

It sounds like you had quite a breakthrough moment with that realization the Holy Spirit gave you, Geoghegan. Thanks for sharing that!

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

 

[-Luca]

A lovely story, I wish you the best in your walk with God in this life.

 

[faroukfarouk]

A lovely story, I wish you the best in your walk with God in this life.

Yes, and like I mentioned above it's so important to deepen one's walk through regular prayer and Bible reading, right?

 

[Monna]

Thanks, Geoghegan, for that wonderful story.

It took me a long time to work out why wronging another person is a sin against God and needed his forgiveness. I'm not sure I have the whole story even yet, but I think it is slowly becoming clearer, if more amazing.

Christians (and practicing Jews) believe that humans were/are created "in the image, or likeness, of God" on purpose, and by God. In other words, God's image is intrinsically bound up with us. Or put another way, God himself has alway identified himself with us as beings. So when we offend, injure, or wrong another person we are automatically offending God, in whose image that person exists.

This has other amazing implications:
- many of our sins are internal, i.e. our thoughts, our private habits, etc. where we believe nobody else is involved, and yet they corrupt our own moral fibre. And this is not only a sin against ourselves because it corrupts the image of God in ourselves, it is a sin against God.
- on the other hand, we understand how it can be that we read "whenever you did [a good thing] for another person, you did it for me." His identification with other individual people is just as real when we do good (and "good" in God's view is 'with a loving motive') as it is when we do bad things to other people.
- when it really sinks in that "that horrible, nasty, bad person" is also actually made in God's image, we cease to see him or her as a horrible nasty person, but someone who has real value to God, and understand God's interest in reversing the moral corruption, cleansing him or her, restoring them to how he intended them to be. It may change our feelings from disgust to sorrow, it can help us separate the person from the behaviour.

Welcome to CF. I hope you will enjoy what you find here, and feel you can share more of your thoughts.

Monna