Healing Family Relationships Through RepentanceSample

In the previous devotional, we discussed how true repentance requires an acknowledgment of wrong and a change in our behavior. Remember, repentance means “a change of mind.” Repentance does not just involve the person we have wronged, but in Scripture, we are called to confess our sins and repent before the Lord first.

Confession is an essential and early action step in repentance. To confess means "to say with" or "to agree with." When we confess sin to God, we are telling God that He is right and we are wrong. We agree with Him and His Word that something we have done or said is sin.

While Christ has paid the full price for all our sins, and forgiveness is freely offered to us, confession requires specificity. We do not pray, "Lord, I want to confess the sins I have committed today. I can't remember any of them in particular, but I am sure you do, so I want to ask for a general forgiveness of those miscellaneous sins." No! When we confess our sins, we name them.

Your prayer might sound something like this: "Lord, I admit that my broken relationship with _________ is not all his/her fault. I have sinned against him/her. I want to repent of all those sins right now. I confess my sin of ______________. I fully admit I was wrong when I ______________. I take responsibility for _____________. Thank you that I can confess all these things to you because of Jesus' death and resurrection."

God welcomes our honest confession and is faithful to forgive.

Reflection Question: Is there a family member you have wronged? Are you ready to begin the repentance process by confessing that to the Lord? He loves you and welcomes your prayers.