Pride prevents people from asking forgiveness from those they have offended.
Many people who say they walk with Christ, have offended people but see no need to even discuss what has happened, resistanceto discussion and confession is rampant among many believers.
They prefer to act as though just being nice next time will fix things, but it does not.
As long as someone has been treated disrespectfully, they will not trust those who make a practice of it and then return to pretend it never happened.
Trust is only restored when there is brokenness over having offended another brother or sister. Without this brokenness we can be sure that the same behavior will continue.
Isaiah 57:15 " 15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite."
Luke 9:23
"23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
There is no denying of self when we cannot confess sinfulness to be cleansed.
Psalm 34:18
"18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Those who retain their pride through stubborness, resisting confession to be reconciled will not only do it with people but also with God.
There is a tendency for stubborn people to live in a world of pretense, they pretend they did nothing wrong, they pretend it was all fixed by coming back as though it never happened, even though there was never any desire to admit their sin. Those who walk in pretense, choosing to believe things about themselves that are not true to keep from having to humble themselves, only grow in one direction, that is "worse", until they repent, then they will begin the growth process again, cleansed and free.
Those that will not repent, grow more and more guilty in their soul, having to continually justify themselves while becoming more hardened with each resistance to confession.
Let's not stagnate in our growth, stagnation does not remain there it leads to regression, along with more and more bitterness of soul. There is no freedom and peace for the heart that resists correction and confession.
We are to forgive the way Christ forgives, not flippantly to make ourselves feel better, but after a confession so that others know their need to grow and change their behavior.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Luke 17:3-4 " 3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”…"
We are never to do revenge, we are to treat people respectfully when in their company, but relationships are not restored or continue when someone refuses to admit their sin or when they refuse to change the same continual behavior.
There is no value in everyone just "feeling better", the purpose of requiring a confession is for the cleansing of the one who sinned and the forgiveness of the one offended that the relationship take a new turn toward holiness and reconciliation based on entirely new attitudes.
Our culture has taught a patently unbiblical concept of forgiving without confession. This has led people to believe they don't have to confess, they just have to act a little better the next time. This tactic does not restore a relationship, it is superficially phony and does not restore the trust that was lost.
The only fix for a broken relationship is for the one who broke it to confess to the one they harmed. Hoping bad feelings will go away by pretending nothing bad was done to the victim, is the same as saying, you don't mean anything to me, I just want my status of friendship back.
When someone is not sorry, refuses to do what is necessary to restore a friendship, then they are admitting they are probably going to do the same kind of things again, the relationship gets poked, poked and poked over and over again, until there is no chance of restoring what was lost.
Sorrow over sin and confession to the ones we harmed is the ONLY solution to broken relationships. Until this happens the relationship remains broken and eventually the harmed party walks away forever.
Those who will not confess they need Christ, who will not reconcile to God through faith in His finished work on the cross, will not see heaven. In order to see heaven one must confess their sinfulness, ask to be changed into a new creation, after that Christ will come to live in them and begin the work of cleansing for the rest of their lives.
Love Worth Finding Ministries Devotional
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Jesus is not only the Cornerstone of the church; He is also the individual building blocks through every believer. Have you ever heard of someone being a “chip off the old block”? That means he shares the nature of his father. In a sense, every child of God is a chip off that Block.
By ourselves we are not all that much. How many one-brick buildings have you seen? One stone can be easily tossed around, but if you take a lot of them and put them together, there is strength.
ACTION POINT:
Our Lord is building us together to gain strength from one another. It is amazing what can happen when the body of Christ is unified.
