A Teens Bible

Proverbs 28:13

NCV:If you hide your sins, you will not succeed.

    If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.

NIV: Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Meaning: If you hide your sin deep down in your heart, if you shove it in the corner, you will not be successful in life. But, if you confess them to the Lord, if you admit that you have done wrong, and you want forgivness, God will show mercy, and compasssion towards you. If you bottle up your sins, without receiving forgivness, you can find yourself in a dark place sometimes! My pastor was saying today that for some people it is hard to forgive from others. You hear peeople say "but they did this to me" "But they hurt me so bad by doing this". Yes, they may have hurt you, but forgivness is the key to moving on. My pastor also said that for some people, receiving forgivness is hard. Some people tell themselves that they did so much wrong, that God can't actually forgive them. But that is not true what so ever. No matter what you do, you can be forgiven. Do not harden your heart, and block out what you could be getting from the Lord. Sometimes things happen in life where you think the best thing to do is to harden your heart so nothing can "hurt" you. In reality your just tricking yourself, and pretending nothing hurts you anymore, and because your hearts like a rock, you cant let anyone in to fix anything especially God. The Lord wants to help you, but you need to soften your heart before he can do his work. On the other hand, you need to confess your sins. Our father wants to have relationship with us, but if we have sin in our hearts that we have not dealt with yet, it is causing a wall between you and him. Remember that whatever you do, God will forgive you. He always has and always will. God looks at all sin the same. Whether is stealing or murder, God see's it all the same. So look deep down in yourself. Is there something you need to confess? 

-Megan