Before Your Next Meal: Receiving Forgiveness Every Day
“Our Father in heaven… forgive us our debts...”—Matthew 6:12 (ESV)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”—1 John 1:9, 10 (ESV)
In recent posts we prayed for daily bread and laid our daily anxieties before the Father. But one more daily need remains: forgiveness. R. Kent Hughes observes that this petition for forgiveness follows this daily request for food. He writes, “If we have not yet had our debts canceled and forgiven, we ought to deal with them before our next meal.”
To live whole and holy lives, we must come not only hungry and anxious, but humble and honest. Before we can receive God’s forgiveness, we must rightly see our sin (1 John 1:10)—which then allows us to see His amazing grace.
The Weight of Our Sin, the Wonder of His Grace
Sin is no minor misstep; it is a debt so weighty that no amount of good deeds can repay it. We are sinners by nature as well as by choice (Eph 2:1–3). As a lifelong “good girl,” I seldom felt a need for daily forgiveness—until God showed me the iceberg beneath my respectable behavior: the “filthy rags” of unbelief, self‑reliance, and hidden pride (Rom 3:10–12; Isa 64:6). Despite this harsh diagnosis, I trusted that God’s loving intention is to set me free, not shame me.
As pastor and author Paul Tripp notes, the deeper problem is our blindness. Sin blinds us—and blinds us to our blindness. On days that I feel “clean,” I still need to ask Him to search my heart (Ps 139:23–24).
The good news? God forgives the debt I owe. Forgiveness means God cancels our debt because Christ paid it in full. His pardon is covenantal (Jer 31:34), merciful and total (Mic 7:18–19), undeserved (Rom 5:6–8), and perfectly just (1 Jn 1:9).
We need this mercy daily—just as surely as bread—because only when we grasp our deep offense can we marvel at His greater grace.
Judge to Father
“But why ask for forgiveness if we’re already justified?” Great question!
At conversion we faced God as Judge, confessed our guilt, and were declared righteous in Christ. In that moment the Judge became our Father; we were adopted into His family and our relationship changed.
Therefore, ongoing confession is not re‑justification but a child’s apology to a loving Father. It keeps intimacy, not salvation, alive and our hearts responsive to Him. This is how forgiven people live: by returning daily, humbly, hopefully.
A Grace‑Guided Path to Daily Confession
With this in mind, confession becomes a rhythm of renewal, not a ritual of shame, that we seek daily. Here is one simple framework to help guide your heart in ongoing repentance:
Step 1: Invite God’s Loving Search
Because we are blind to hidden sins—pride, judgmentalism, grumbling, people‑pleasing, unbelief, etc.—we can begin by asking the Spirit to expose what we cannot see (Ps 139). We may even need to ask Him for help to grieve sin rightly.
As a mirror, let the light of Scripture reveal the idols that hide in the dark corners of our heart. Resist the temptation, when God reveals it, to justify or minimize these sins by comparing ourselves to others. Conviction may sting, but His aim is Christlikeness in you, not shame. In love, He reveals anything that falls short of Him—so let’s be willing to hear.
Step 2: Respond in Confession
When we are honest about the real cost of our sin—not just morally, but relationally, this conviction or godly sorrow leads not to shame but cleansing. Second Corinthians 7:10 tells us, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” This is not about emotion but agreement. Confession means we agree with God about our sin without excuse—whether sins of commission or omission.
It is a grace that God exposes our sin with His light, even if it is uncomfortable. If this prompts us to ask for His forgiveness, we can experience His mercy and grace, as David describes in Psalm 32.
Whether you feel nothing at all or are overly burdened, the same gospel meets both extremes.
Step 3: Receive His Forgiveness
Just as we want to avoid self-justification, we also want to avoid self-condemnation. Forgiveness is fact, not feeling. Even if we don’t feel forgiven, the cross declares you clean. First John 1:9 tells us that God is faithful and just: demanding a second payment would violate His own righteousness.
Because of Christ, we can trust that with His forgiveness comes a restored relationship to the Father. So, cling to these gospel truths. Anchor your heart in grace and respond with worship.
Step 4: Walk in New Obedience
Forgiveness is a fresh start, not a finish line. Let’s not stop there! We want to move on to repentance—turning from sin and toward Christ. If, as children of God, we want to become like Him, we will want to identify and replace these old patterns by the Spirit’s power (Eph. 4:22-24). For example, instead of grumbling as I brush my daughter’s teeth, I can ask Him to help me grow a humble heart of service.
Expect setbacks and guard against pride—but because we are welcome to confess our sins as often as needed, we need not feel ashamed. Even on days where we are seeing transformation, we will need His protection from the sin of pride and self-sufficiency. This is the work of a lifetime, so repentance and obedience is an ongoing journey.
Let’s Pray
Here’s a simple way to begin practicing daily confession, keeping your heart soft and your fellowship with God sweet. To remind ourselves of our need for daily forgiveness as well as daily bread, consider praying these four sentences before your next meal. Linking this prayer to something you already do daily can help us remember to daily confess our sins and keep us anchored in the abundant grace of our loving Father.
1. Search: “Father, shine Your light on hidden sins I overlook.”
2. Confess: “Lord, I agree with You—________ is sin. I turn from it.”
3. Receive: “Thank You that Christ’s blood is stronger than my guilt. I am forgiven.”
4. Walk: “Spirit, empower me today to live differently—show me one obedient step.”
