Understood this way, confession is not something over and above “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Confession is the daily manifestation of faith in Jesus, a daily living out of recognizing Him as Savior, Master, and Treasure, a consistent exhibit of the Gospel of God’s grace.

Alas, my poor heart, here we are, fallen into the pit we were so firmly resolved to avoid! Well, we must get up again and leave it forever. We must call on God’s mercy and hope that it will help us to be steadier in the days to come. Let us start out again on the way of humility. Let us be of good heart and from this day be more on guard. God will help us; we will do better.” Ask the Child in the Manger for Help to Forgive Could it be any more fitting that the boy was named John — “graced by God”? And so Zechariah was. And so we are. Who Can Forgive Sins? Dear God, I have a resentment towards a person that I want to be free of. So, I am asking you to give this person everything I want for myself. Help me to feel compassionate understanding and love for this person. I pray that they will receive everything they need. Thank you, God, for your help and strength with this resentment.” Not long after, John’s long-awaited cousin was born. An even more miraculous child. Forgiveness incarnate. John 1:9 leads to a question: Is our forgiveness contingent on our confession? John has just said that believers can’t say they have no sin. We all sin every day. We confess those sins that we are aware of. But what about the sins we’re not aware of? Can I be lost – not reconciled to God – because I never confess the sins I’ve failed to recognize?Had God’s mercy ever felt more tender, more real to Zechariah than when, holding his answered prayer, he could finally form words again? God forgives, son. God really forgives. He forgives sinners like me. He really is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Go and tell them forgiveness is possible, because God has come. Bennett and Marco Grazzini have no chemistry that I can see. Erin seems like she is constantly escaping the rest of the family to spend time with Mateo. A lot of the situations seemed forced rather than natural. For example,, the restaurant assistant is on a mission to put the two together, even before she knows Erin.

Like many first-time fathers (myself included), the man couldn’t find the words. In this case, however, he literally couldn’t speak. When Zechariah finally met his son, he could only ask for something to write on. He didn’t get to taste the boy’s name on his lips for eight whole days. I vividly remember meeting our firstborn. I can’t imagine feeling all I felt those days in silence. It might have killed me to try. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” As Ephesians 2:8 explains, we are saved by grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”Even though we freely receive God’s gift of forgiveness,we often feel justified in holding onto unforgiveness towards others. But being unwilling to forgive reveals whether or not our hearts have truly been transformed and created as new creations in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” ( 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Kindliness, Mercy, Forgiveness

But even if we are not serving the Lord or our country in full-time service, our opportunities to serve are limitless. Kind words and deeds can lift burdens and cheer up hearts! Our Father in Heaven invites us all to give service. And when we do, “the King shall answer and say unto [us], Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” 6 Temptation to a certain sin…might last throughout our whole life,” he writes, “yet it can never make us displeasing to God’s Majesty provided we do not…give consent to it.” At Tuesday evening's commemoration, led by the bishop of Sheffield, candles will be lit, a wreath laid, and a new carol, The Bethlehem Star, will be sung. It was written in memory of Alan Greaves by Bob Chilcott, one of Britain's foremost choral composers and conductors, who had never met his fellow musician but was deeply moved after reading about his death. It isn't easy making the choice to forgive. But living with unforgiveness can be downright deadly! I've heard it said that harboring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies! That's a good way to think about it, because many, many illnesses, including depression and arthritis, can be linked to bitterness and unforgiveness! The story is thin. It is about a single mom angry with her dad because he wasn't around when she was young. Erin holds onto this hurt much harder than the movie ever explains adequately. She does say something about looking at her dad having a good time with her daughters and it makes her jealous, but that doesn't come until after she has chilled her dad out to about negative 10,000 degrees for much of the movie. This woman is bitter. It's even stranger because Stephanie Bennett is upbeat with everyone else and seems pleasant most of the rest of the time.

Instead, St. Francis says, when we feel our anger rising, we must calmly call upon God’s help. “Prayers directed against present and pressing anger must always be said calmly and peaceably and not violently.” And here he was, buried in their arms. The dream they had stopped dreaming. The son they thought they’d never meet.The full and essential nature of love we may not understand, but there are tests by which it may be recognized. Does it matter who actually tendered this seasonal olive branch, given that the visit was a disaster in any case? Yet the inconsistency feels significant, because this book is as much about healing and forgiveness as it is about fairytale cruelty to children. Winterson’s chapter for New Year’s Eve considers Christmas as a time of reflection – there’s a recipe for cheese crispies to aid the process – in which she notes: “Memory isn’t an archive. Even a simple memory is a cluster … our memories change as we do.” I love seeing children’s excitement and anticipation throughout the Christmas season! I remember my own anticipation as a Primary child growing up in Argentina. One year, our Primary teachers asked us to clean our old toys, wash our dolls’ hair, and repair their dresses so we could donate them to little boys and girls who had to spend Christmas day in the hospital.

Until Good Friday, forgiveness had been a promise — real, but unseen. As the nails went in and the beams rose high, however, forgiveness broke into sight, painted in red for all to see. They seized him without warrant, tried him without justice, and beat him without mercy. And yet, even as they showered him with hostility, he prayed for them. And what did he pray? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Our Savior taught us by example to love everyone. He also taught us to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. This prayer helps me remember that God is the source of all mercy, and when we struggle to forgive, He is waiting to help us. All we need to do is ask. That year, as I gave one of my favorite toys, I understood a little better our Heavenly Father’s gift to us—His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who lovingly and selflessly gave His life for us.

Forgiveness is an act of the will. As long as we forgive with our will, then we do not need to worry about the temptations to unforgiveness that beset us. The pain of emotional injury might linger even after I have forgiven someone, just as the pain of heart surgery might still be felt even after a successful operation. Residual pain indicates the depth of the injury, not the level of forgiveness. After we have forgiven the person, we can pray for God to heal that pain just as we would pray for Him to heal a physical illness. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. …