9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 [NASB]
I’ve been reading a book recommended by a friend. In this book, among other things, the author argues that Christians need Christian counseling and even mentoring because of psychological damage often resulting from our upbringing.
He specifically refers to the lack of a sense of being forgiven. Christians who experience this often are driven by a desire to please God – to earn his approval – but never feel that they have done enough. They may become legalistic, they may be almost frantic in their ministry or their good works, or they may become despairing to the point of depression.
One wonders, if this is such a profound problem of human nature, why it is that Christ and the apostles missed the opportunity of dealing with it in their speaking and their writing… or did they?
Could it be that the answer is as simple as trusting God for our salvation? Trusting God that when he says he forgives us that he does? Could it be that the psychological morass that many of us sink into is actually due to a lack of faith?
– SSXG