Chapter 1

Yesterday I and my family sat down at the table for morning devotions. The devotion
was about the hardest thing to say. Well, what do you think it is? Some of your
answers to this question might be, I love you, we need to break up, Mom, Im
pregnant, I crashed the car, or just saying a plain old- fashioned thank you.
Well guess what, all of those answers are wrong. Yes, you are right they are very
hard things to say. But they arent the hardest things to say.
When was the last time you said, Im sorry or God, Ive sinned, will you
forgive me? Now that is the hardest thing to say! A lot of the time I find myself
going even weeks without asking for forgiveness! Sometimes I just mutter a quick
forgive me under my breath and carry on with life. Other times I think God
basically says everywhere in the Bible that he forgives me so I dont need to ask for
forgiveness. Or you might think my sin is too big to be forgiven. It is extremely
hard to say we have sinned. In 1 John 1:9 it says, If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
All you have to do is ask and God will forgive!
A really big problem people have is that they dont admit that they have
sinned. People think they didnt do anything wrong if they didnt murder anyone,
worship false idols, or commit adultery. As long as its nothing big they think they
havent sinned. Well, my friends, they are so wrong! Whether it is stealing a piece of
candy or murdering someone all sins are the same. In James 2:10 the Bible says,
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it. Some of you might translate it a little differently but what I think
that verse is saying is that even if you go to church, you dont worship false idols,
you defiantly dont murder, but on occasion you let an oh my God slip out of your
mouth than your guilty of all of it. Because in the Bible verse (James 2:10) it says
that if you break one sin then your breaking all other sins too. So if you steal that
piece of candy it affects God the same way as if you disobeyed your parents or even
murdered someone.
Now that sounds almost ridiculous. Im sure your thinking back through all
the sins youve done and youre probably wondering so Ive basically murdered like
thousands of people? In the human brain it is very difficult to understand how
things affect God

Well, lets think even more. Did you ever ask for forgiveness for those sins? If
you havent your probably thinking oh, well, there is nothing I can do about those
sins now. Actually, there is. A lot of people think if you didnt ask for forgiveness
right after youve sinned than you cant be forgiven for that sin. Well, I believe the

complete opposite! Just think, God said you would be judged for your sins in
heaven, but wait, didnt he say if you asked for forgiveness he would forget all
about it? In Psalms 103:12 it says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he
removed our transgressions from us. Wait! On the end of that word transgression
there is an s? I thought you could only be forgiven for the sin that you did at that
exact time? Well, thats what you thought! You see, if I was judged for all of my sins
it would go all the way back to when I was six (I was a Christian) and when I stole
that candy bar. Actually, on the Day of Judgment you will be judged for all sins that
have not been forgiven. Its not too late to be forgiven though. You and I both have
committed thousands of sins but remember in 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
You might think it sounds crazy, am I right? You are probably telling yourself
no, no, no that was too long ago and too big to be forgiven now. Please, listen to
what the Lord is saying! He is saying that nothing is too big for Him. God is faithful,
and if we ask and admit we have done wrong, he will forgive of for everything.