Keeping short accounts... or keeping fessed up!

This is the pretty cross/car charm I have hanging in my car! This is what inspired this post!

"...forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us;..." Quoting the Lord's prayer, or the prayer which Jesus Christ taught to His disciples is part of the Rosary.
I have a pretty "Car Charm" that dangles and hangs from my rear view mirror in my car. It was given to me by my precious friend, Sandy, who is also a sister in Christ and just a fun friend I have a lot in common with! When Melissa was home recently she asked me if it was a Rosary! I chuckled and said, "No, it's a car charm, and it's a glass cross on a chain with a few beads as well.
Later, I mulled over in my mind Melissa's question. Is it a Rosary? I have several Catholic friends who are committed Christians and practicing Catholics. I remember rooming with my friend Jane, at the TSHA convention and she would keep her Rosary beads by her bedside and say her prayers silently at bedtime.

The more and more I thought about the specifics of the Rosary I thought how those practices really are a good habit. When praying through a Rosary you actually say the Lord's Prayer or "Our Father" three separate times. If you truly speak these words from your heart to God even just once, God hears. I appreciate that this facilitates helping one keep "fessed up" or keep short accounts of sin. Saying even just one Lord's prayer, sincerely, from your heart, and asking God to forgive your sins keeps your communication with Him open and right! It's like having ALL your cell phone bars on or your Internet up and running at the fastest speed possible! Oppositely, when you have UN CONFESSED SIN in your life, you don't have any bars! Your Internet is down and your communication lines with God are closed! The Holy Spirit is quenched inside you and you are in need of an "Our Father" to get your sins all confessed and forgiven! It is so simple and so true! It just works!

First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God has taught me so much the past 10 years about forgiveness. These lessons were painful but very productive and life changing. Is there anyone you are not forgiving? Are you harboring bitterness, anger, or hatred toward someone who has wronged you? Well, you aren't going to want to hear this but it is a command that you have to process your anger, then choose to let it go and forgive. Not condone or give in or even submit to something wrong, but forgive in your heart and let it go. This is not for them, it is for you and for your health. It is best for you if you can forgive, then the other person is no longer in control over you and your feelings. They still have to face consequences, make reparations etc but you are not allowing yourself to spiral into the dungeon of bitterness that eats you up and becomes a cancer like growth that makes you bitter and traps you into the pit of sin and harboring unforgiveness. Choose to forgive, let it go. Keep processing. They may not deserve it nor ask for it and you may or may not even tell them but in your heart and mind, find a way to process and work until you can forgive. You may have to write out a letter and then read it aloud to yourself and cry or scream. Do it. Process it. Go there. Stop letting it control you. Then tear up the letter or burn it as you consciously and verbally issue forgiveness and let it go. God doesn't forgive US if WE are not forgiving others. Go there. Work to it. You can do it with God's grace and strength. Forgiving others is a huge part of accepting forgiveness yourself. Forgiveness is very healing and cathartic. I promise!

"...forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us;..."

everyday, every hour, keep your sins confessed to God, keep your connection to him open and clear!