Key scripture – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9).

Back in the 1950s, Walt Disney went to an amusement park and he didn’t like it very much because it was a mess; there was litter all over the ground, and dirty bathrooms. It just felt tacky. He made up his mind that when he built the theme park he had dreamed of, it would never be a mess. If you’ve ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, you know he got what he wanted. They have a simple strategy that makes Disney parks clean places. Take care of a mess right away. By doing that it stays clean there because they just won’t let a mess get started.

The plan for keeping a park clean is the plan for keeping a life clean – don’t let a mess get started. When you mess up, clean it up fast. There’s not one of us who doesn’t have things we wish we hadn’t done or things we wish we had done. We’ve got things that make us feel dirty, ashamed, guilty, or unworthy. It all comes under the heading of what God calls “sin”.

The problem is that too often when we mess up, we give up and we just keep giving in to more and more spiritual mistakes. So the darkness just grows and grows. The garbage starts piling up higher and higher. God does not want us to live with our sin and that is why He has given us His spiritual recovery plan in clear, simple terms in 1 John 1:8-9 which tell us this: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God has made it possible for you to break the cycle of defeat and discouragement and it is through immediate and heartfelt confession. That is the way to keep a mess from accumulating in your life.

As soon as you’ve done what you know is wrong, don’t run from God; run to God. Confess it to Him immediately. But what does it mean to confess your sin? It’s much more than just feeling guilty or even feeling sorry for what you did. The original word in the Bible means to “say the same thing.” In other words, you confess your sin when you say the same thing about it that God does. You see it for how ugly and wrong it is; something so bad it took the death of God’s Son to pay for it: immediate confession, immediate forgiveness and immediate cleansing. You need to take a spiritual shower as soon as you get dirty. As the Bible says, “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:23-24). Imagine having a clean start each new day. You can have that by not carrying yesterday’s garbage into today.

If you are wondering, “How can a Holy God forgive the junk that He hates?” Soon after the “confess and be clean” verse, God says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:1-6).

Being forgiven by God is a matter of taking what Jesus did on the cross and making it personal for you. It’s standing at the cross and saying, “Jesus, You died and rose from the dead for what I did. I have no other hope of being forgiven, so I’m Yours. I want to abide in You and You abide in me.”

Maybe you’ve carried the guilt and the shame of things you’ve done for a long time. The good news is that you can go to sleep tonight knowing that you are clean from all of that for the first time in your life, if you’ll just invite the Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for all that junk, to become your personal Savior.

Are you ready to let your sin go and start living in peace and forgiveness? It does not matter what you have done in the past, you don’t have to carry all the sin and the mistakes on your back one more day. You can lay it down at the cross of Jesus, leave it there, and walk away completely forgiven.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, without Jesus I would have no way to be forgiven of my sins. I thank You for loving us so much You gave Your Son so that I could be forgiven and spend eternity with You. Thank You that I have Jesus in my life now, protecting me, strengthening me, changing me, and loving me. I am walking in the light because the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all of my sins. I want to be a vessel for honorable use. I want to be set apart and holy, useful to You, and ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21). I live in peace and forgiveness because I no longer carry the guilt and shame of my sins. I no longer live under condemnation because of Jesus. I am here to serve and glorify You. I give You all my praise and worship. You are my Lord and Savior. I Love You!! In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.