How Many Times?

Everyone sins throughout their lives and God forgives us - but does He have a limit?

Many people are taught the truth that God will forgive their sins, no matter what the sins they've committed are. It's such a relief to know that we have a wonderful God who is willing to forgive us. We are humans. Our human nature is to sin. We can try all we want to be perfect, but it's literally not possible. The important thing is that we realize and accept this fact, and strive to walk closely with God. Although it's impossible for us to be perfect, we can take a deep dive into God's Word and learn everything He wants us to know - the truths He shares in the Bible. If we cover ourselves in His Word, as well as do other things like attending church and worshiping Him, it will draw us closer in our relationship with God. When we have a closer relationship with God, it won't seem as easy to sin as it might have been before becoming a Christian or really diving into a close relationship with God. I'm not saying you won't sin - again, we are humans and it is human nature - but it won't seem to come as naturally as it might have before.

I recently overheard a conversation between two people - no I wasn't eavesdropping, I just happened to overhear the conversation. They were talking about God and how He forgives sins. One of the people stated that if someone continued to sin, God would only forgive them a certain amount of times. That's what really hit me. There are people out there who think that God will grow tired of us sinning and then asking for forgiveness. I believe that, even if you've committed the sin before and said you wouldn't do it again, God will always accept you coming back to Him with open arms. What kind of a loving Father would He be if one day He suddenly denied you because you sinned? It just doesn't seem like something God would do.

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

This verse shows specifically that God will forgive our sins, no matter what. It doesn't say "If we confess our sins less than ten times..." - God will always forgive us. That's just one more amazing thing we can share about our God, He doesn't care what we've done. He loves us just the same. Still unconditionally. This verse continues to share that not only will God forgive us of our sins - He will also cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. He wipes our slate clean. I really love the wording that's used here in this verse. God doesn't cleanse us from some unrighteousness or just the unrighteousness that was picked up from the sin He's forgiving; He cleanses all of our unrighteousness, no questions asked. All we need to do is confess our sins to God. Confessing our sins can be challenging. Sometimes we don't realize right away that what we've done is a sin, sometimes we don't want to confess that we have sinned. It's an important thing to do, though. Take this into consideration...

My parents and I have a cat. We've owned her for about five months now. In these five months, we have trained her to jump up on her cat tree or the couches in the living room and have discouraged her from jumping on the dining room table. However, there are still times where we find her on the table. We tell her to get down and sometimes have to pick her up to move her, but we don't stay mad at her about being on the table. After dinner tonight, she jumped onto the table and started licking a spoon that was in the sour cream container. Were we upset? Yes. Did we ban our cat from jumping on anything in the house? No. She's a cat, it's in her nature to jump onto things - especially when she's curious about something. That's kind of how God is with us. He tells us not to sin, but we do anyways because it's in our nature. Instead of being angry at us for committing another sin or denying our entry into Heaven because we've sinned, He forgives us and gives us another chance to continue walking in His Word. God actually prepared for all of this sin a long time ago - when He sent Jesus to die on the cross. John 3:16 says that God sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins so that whoever believes in Him can have an eternal life in Heaven. God did the exact opposite of what many were probably expecting Him to do. Instead of being an almighty being that wants to show off His power by punishing us for our sins, God sacrificed his only Son in our place so that we can have the opportunity to live in Heaven and not suffer because of our sins. Isn't that amazing?

"God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. His Son paid the price to free us, which means that our sins are forgiven." Colossians 1:13-14

This passage explains perfectly how God rescued us from sin and what that means for us. I absolutely love this passage! Going back to the conversation I mentioned before - God will never deny us because of our sins. He loves us way too much to do something like that. That person truly believed that God would only forgive people a certain amount of times before giving up hope on them. The person they were talking to tried to explain what the Bible says about God forgiving our sins, but they didn't listen. I hope and pray that this person looks in the Bible for themselves and finds all of the amazing passages about how God will always forgive our sins. We are God's creation, and He loves us so much. He wouldn't set us up for failure by only forgiving our sins a certain number of times. God will always be willing to forgive us, as long as we're willing to confess that we sinned and ask Him for forgiveness.

Easter is just around the corner. I never knew how I felt about the holiday when I was a child because I enjoyed getting candy and celebrating that Jesus had risen from the dead, but hated hearing about all the pain and suffering He had to endure before raising from the dead. Two years ago, I took a deep dive into the different accounts of the Easter story and achieved a better understanding of the entire story. I now know that Jesus had to endure all of the pain and suffering so that we could have a way to get into Heaven - otherwise, we could only get into Heaven if we were perfect. Jesus died on the cross to pay for everyone's sins. We didn't even exist yet and He paid for the sins He knew we'd commit. Now all we have to do is ask for God's forgiveness when we sin. No loopholes or extra steps needed. Just a loving God that cares for us. I hope you are encouraged that there is no limit to God's forgiveness. Know that all you need to do is confess your sins and ask for Him to forgive you.