Thursday January 13

So think now: how might God’s love transform you? He is at work to make you treat other people in the very the ways he treats you. Imagine – never abandoning another person, bringing blessing and grace to others, patient, forgiving, generous, self-sacrificing, considering the interest of others…. That is a life worth living, and a life that brings life to others! How does heartfelt gratitude for God’s forgiveness change you, so

that you become forgiving? How might your life become different by his power? Ask him for this. Ask him every day.

As you pray, remember that God promises mercy when you confess your sins. He does not desire the death of a sinner. God desires that you turn to him and then, in the words of the liturgy that follow the Confession,

He pardons and absolves all those who truly repent.

To ‘pardon’ means to truly forgive. To ‘absolve’ means to release you, to set you free. To ‘repent’ simply means to turn to God. He says, “If you seek me, you will find me.” He makes you free and forgiven. Life, not death, gets last say. The misery of guilt recedes. The gladness of gratitude takes hold. Embarrassment and shame give way to courage and openness. The sense that you have been given a most wonderful gift in what God has done for you replaces the sense that you have been a failure by what you have done.

Come to God. Imagine that you are holding in your hands all that you did wrong. Reach out for his mercy with both hands. He will take away what grieves and burdens you. He will wash you in fresh, clean water. Heartache and regret don’t disappear, but he will take the sting and despair away. They will no longer torture you. He will heal you. He gives you a fresh start. God says, “I have seen your ways, but I will heal you. I will guide you and restore comfort to you” (Isaiah 57:18 paraphrase). Your faith will find it true that “His mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-24). Let this very day be a day on which you find brand new mercies.