THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever done something wrong and then tried to cover it up?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 28:13. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Confession can be a scary thing. When we do something wrong, our natural instinct is to try to conceal (cover up or hide) what we did. We get that from our ancestors, Adam and Eve. When they sinned in the Garden of Eden they immediately tried to hide from God and cover up their sin. Of course, it didn’t work. Why not? Because God knows everything.
Never forget: YOU CAN NOT HIDE FROM GOD.
Not only does God know everything that we do, he also loves us no matter what. That’s why this proverb says that if we confess our transgressions (our sins), we will obtain mercy. God is always merciful and he will always forgive the person who is honest about their sinfulness. How do we know? Because Jesus is the proof of God’s mercy. By the death of Jesus on the cross every sin is forgiven. Now we just have to confess our sin (be honest about it) and receive God’s mercy through Jesus. Have you done that?
This proverb is always true with God, and most of the time its true with other people too. It’s always wise to confess your sins to others right away, rather than trying to cover your mistakes up. If you ask mom and dad, I’ll bet they’d say that the bad thing you did bothers them way less than dishonesty about it. We all make lots of mistakes, but trying to cover up those mistakes just makes things much, much worse. It’s always best to be honest with others, knowing that God forgives you, then hoping that they will forgive you too.
Because of Jesus all of our sins are forgiven and we have mercy from God.
With Jesus we never have to cover up our mistakes.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
When you pray together as a family make confession a part of it. It’s easy for our prayers to include thanksgiving and praise, but confession of sin should also be part of how our children are learning to pray.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I know that you have forgiven me. Help me to always be honest with you and others about my sins and my mistakes. Amen.
TLICfamily 