How Can You Have Peace When You Can't Forget Sins?

How can you have peace when you have shameful sins that still grieve you? Well, there are a number of ways to do this. Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), a Baptist evangelist, outlined certain things that have certainly helped me, and I would like to outline and expand upon this for you:

1) Get things settled by the Bible and not by your feelings. When you have faced your sin and failure and confessed it to God, he wants you to quit thinking about it and count it settled. 2) Start with the promise of God about forgiveness of sin. 1st John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." If you confessed your sin honestly to God, it is forgiven.

Psalms 103:8-14 says, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgressions from us." What this means, is that if you ask God for forgiveness, you are forgiven, He will not harbor anger towards your sin. Let it go, move on, and accept that you are forgiven. Does this mean you should continue to sin over and over, knowing that you are forgiven? No. That's taking advantage of God. It means, once you have done that sin, certainly attempt not to ever do it again. No, we are none of us perfect, but he gave us free will so we could make our own choices: choose not to do that again.

3) Now, a great step in contentment and fellowship is to be not in some great emotional climax, in some... sudden feeling, but rather a quietly growing contentment and peace as you set out to follow the habits of a good Christian. This includes:

• a) Daily reading of the Bible. Ask God to help you understand the Scriptures and enjoy them. If you feel pressure or tension as you are reading, so that it hinders the reading, don't fret. Just take your time, everyday, to read your Bible, whether its six chapters or one chapter, take time out of the busy lives that we lead, and read your Bible.
• b) Then everyday as your failures and sins come to mind, confess them to God, count it settled, and leave them there never to worry about again. "Keep short accounts with God." This may be hard, but you'll find that after doing this once or twice, It will come easier.
• c) "Dwell much in your mind not on yourself, either how good or bad," but on Jesus and how merciful and great his promises are. The peace of God has been given to you and you can have it, but he wants you to set out to, day by day, live and walk in that peace.

May God bless you and keep you.

Troy Hillman