When I was young, I struggled with porn and it made my life miserable. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t have the power to stop it, until God helped me to find freedom from it.
Now I don’t know what you have done, but it seems the longer we live the bigger the list of things we would like to change in our pasts. The guilt and regrets can keep us awake at night and steal our joy.
The good news is that our sins can be forgiven, and we can have a fresh start.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 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 (BSB)
We can be fully forgiven by confessing our sins to God.
God’s amazing love
How can it be that a just God forgives our sins and lets us go free?
God could have left us all alone, after all it is us that sinned and he did nothing wrong, but because of his great and amazing love for us he chose to send his Son Jesus into the world.
Jesus came and lived a perfect life. Even though he was completely innocent, he voluntarily died on a cross, a death of a criminal. In this way, he paid for all our sins so that we don’t have to and that we can be fully reconciled with God.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:23–24 (BSB)
Jesus didn’t stay in the grave, but he rose from the grave proving that he really is who he said he is.
Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
Romans 8:34 (BSB)
What Jesus did, made a way so that we don’t have to earn our way to heaven or pay the penalty for our sin, but instead we can receive forgiveness and receive salvation as a gift. This is the most amazing news!!
Believing in Jesus
Instead of striving and working and worrying we can rest in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father, believing in Jesus and trusting in Him for our salvation.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only g Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
John 3:16-17 (BSB)
In the Gospel of John, the first chapter is written very beautifully. It has a statement that took a very long time for me to understand. It says referring to Jesus:
12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
John 1:12 (BSB)
The words that I struggled to understand are “those who believed in His name”. We don’t usually use such expressions, but then it finally dawned on me. The name Jesus in the original language basically means “God saves”.
It all points back to the same thing, it is not our works but what Jesus did for us.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Eph 2:8–9 (BSB)
God’s grace is amazing, but we need to be careful. Being saved does not give us permission to sin, absolutely not, rather we are turning from sin back to God. It can be that you struggle with addiction, it can be that you struggle with some persistent sin (like I struggled with porn), but I believe that with the help of God and with the help of a loving Christian community we can find freedom and grow to be better than ever before.
God deserves all my love
Even if God would have only created us, he would still deserve all our love. How much more does he deserve all our love because Jesus chose to die on my behalf so that we can have peace with God and become the children of God.
Turn to Me and be saved,
Isaiah 45:22 (BSB)
all the ends of the earth;
for I am God,
and there is no other.
God loves you dearly, would you like turn to him and be saved?
If you would like to turn back to God and invite Jesus into your heart, would you please pray this prayer in your heart.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your love for me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I have sinned and hurt myself and others, I confess my sin and ask your forgiveness. I want to turn back to you and give my life to you. I want to invite Jesus into my heart.
Would you please give me your Holy Spirit and help me love you, trust you and follow you all the days of my life.
In Jesus name I pray
If you just prayed that prayer, we are so thankful and happy for you! That is the wonderful beginning of a lifelong journey and friendship with God. Please let us know of your decision today and please read the next steps below:
What’s next?
Baptism
Jesus was baptized before he began his ministry and in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), he commanded us to Baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not save us, but it is an outward symbol of the faith that we already have.
If you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and would like to be baptized please contact us here.
We need a loving spiritual family
When a new baby is born it needs a loving family to care, guide, and help him grow. The same is true when we are spiritually born, we need a loving spiritual family to support us and help us grow spiritually.
I would like to ask you to send us a note of your decision, so that we can pray for you and help you to find a good church that you could join.
To contact us please click here.
Article by Micah
Scripture quotations.
There are many good English Bible translations that are easy to read and understand such as New International Version® (NIV®) and New Living Translation (NLT). In this page we have chosen to use Berean Standard Bible since the text is available in public domain.
Scripture quotations marked (BSB) are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
You can read NIV® for free here.