The First Step Toward Healing
Today’s Verse:
1 John 1:9 ESV
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As we continue on our focus of spiritual health this week, it all begins with honesty—honesty before God. In a world obsessed with self-improvement, we can easily forget that true healing doesn’t start with effort; it starts with confession.
1 John 1:9 isn’t just a comforting verse—it’s a reality check and a promise. It tells us that sin isn’t something to manage or ignore. It’s something to bring into the light. The gospel doesn’t ask us to pretend we’re fine. It invites us to come clean.
Confession isn’t a shameful ritual; it’s the open door to renewal. It’s where the Christian life breathes. In the Lutheran tradition, we’re not forgiven because we confess—our forgiveness comes through Christ alone. But confession is how we receive it, how we stop hiding and let the gospel meet us in our weakness.
God doesn’t just forgive—He cleanses. That’s spiritual health: not a perfect track record, but a heart laid bare before a faithful and just God, who wipes away guilt and restores us daily through His mercy.
.Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Lord, I confess that I often carry sin instead of confessing it. Thank You for being faithful, even when I am not. Cleanse my heart, restore my joy, and help me walk in the freedom of Your forgiveness. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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