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Freedom and Forgiveness
Steve Tiebout stevetiebout@gmail.com
Scripture:
1 John 1:9
M y parents always said life would go easier on me if I just always told the truth, but it just never felt that easy. Like the time my dad asked me, “Son, did you get gas for the mower?” and I lied and said yes. I was thinking I could get it before he knew any different, only to find out he already knew the answer to the question. Now he was mad at me for not replacing the gas, but what was worse was he was disappointed in me for lying to him. Honestly, I was disap- pointed in myself. Why couldn’t I just tell him the truth? Why couldn’t I just confess that I had messed up? Funny thing is he already knew the answer before he asked the question. In the Lord’s prayer Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, say- ing “forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” God already knows everything about our lives and He knows when we cheat other people on a business deal just to make more money, He knows when we lie to get ahead in the business world for our own advantage to the detriment of others, and He knows when we are eaten up with materialism and put ourselves above the needs of those we love and those in need. The truth is that He even knows our thoughts and just like my dad it breaks His heart and disappoints Him when his children lie to Him and pre-
tend like they’ve done nothing wrong when he knows the truth all along. If you want freedom in your life from your past, if you want victory over the shame and guilt of things you’ve done wrong, the first step is confession to the Father. He already knows the things you’ve done wrong and according to 1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness.” So if God is willing and ready to forgive us, why won’t we go to God and ask for forgiveness? Is it pride? Is it shame? Is it guilt? There may be many reasons, but the truth is once we ask God for forgiveness, we begin to experience freedom and forgiveness and feel the free- dom and the grace to forgive others as well. At our church, we have a saying: “If you mess up, fess up and move on.” Jesus went to the Cross to pay for our sins so that we could be forgiven. It would be foolish to pretend that we have not sinned and to continue to carry that weight on our own shoulders when Jesus went to all the trouble to go to the Cross, pay for all our sins and teach us how to pray and be for- given. So why don’t you just pray today and talk to the Father and get real with Him. After all He already knows everything about us anyway and still offers His love and forgiveness to us. What an awesome Father!
100 AUGUST 2026
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