Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Today's Devotional Scripture

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

Thoughts on today's verse...

Bruce Catton was a great Civil War historian who wrote numerous well-known books, including A Stillness at Appomattox. In the opinion of former Congressman and U.S. ambassador Fred J. Eckert, Catton had a wonderful way of dealing with his errors.

It seems that when Eckert was a high-school sophomore, he read one of Catton's books, This Hallowed Ground. Moved by it, he sought out other books on the Civil War. In one, he discovered Catton had made a mistake in This Hallowed Ground. He had transposed the names of a first and second officer.

Ecker's teacher encouraged him to write Catton about the mistake. When he did, Catton responded by sending him autographed copies of several of his books, including a copy of This Hallowed Ground. In it he wrote, "To Fred Eckert, who caught me napping at Fort Donelson."

Eckert said he learned a valuable lesson from this experience: "If you always do your best, you probably won't make too many serious errors. And when you do slip up from time to time, the best thing to do is acknowledge it and move on."

How often do we spend time and effort trying to justify or cover up our sins and mistakes? The truth is, it's much easier to confess those sins, ask God for forgiveness, to seek the forgiveness of others involved and then move on in a forward manner.

It is human pride that hinders us from acknowledging our mistakes, and perhaps that is the reason pride is considered the chief of all sins... it keeps us from repentance, which cuts off our intimacy with God.

My prayer...

Lord God, Father of all heaven and earth, hear my prayer! Forgive me for all that I have left unforgiven. Help me to make amends as may be needed. Then give me the strength and courage to get on with the business of living the life You have called me too! In Jesus' name I pray ~Amen!

Yours, because we're His,

Tamara

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Sorry Tamara, I had so many mispellings in my previous comment it was embarassing.
    Anyway I truly loved this post and prayer.....it applies to all of us.
    Have a great day.....:-) Hugs

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  3. Forgiving is so healing and one of the areas most of us are lax in is self forgiveness. For the most part I have taught myself to just laugh at my errors, correct what I can and go on with trying harder.

    blessings and hugs,

    marcy

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  4. Forgiving would make everyone's world better...we should have a holiday for "Forgiving" like Thanksgiving!

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  5. Tamara...I find myself 'moving on'...more and more...
    I have to learn to forgive myself...and do just that.
    Love,
    Jackie

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