Many people do not refrain from doing evil to others in order to achieve their personal goals…
When YeHoVaH created us, we were endowed with a conscience. This is a type of “judge” that was designed to direct us to what is right or wrong according to the eternal Torah that reflects the righteous character of the Creator, and by which He rules all of His Creation.
But as we grow and begin our journey through this world, that conscience is influenced, refined, distorted, and even contaminated, all in such a way that we can lose our sense of justice completely. And as this happens, many people do not refrain from doing evil to others in order to achieve their personal goals. Hence the famous expression: “These people have no conscience!”
But when we have a genuine and transformative encounter with Yeshua, something supernatural happens: That sense of conscience is restored and renewed to align once again with YeHoVaH’s Torah, and a new beginning – a new life – emerges, as described by Paul (Shaul):
“…if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Then, the potential to keep us acting honestly and justly is reactivated. However, we inevitably make mistakes again because of our habits, and we run the risk of returning to our old patterns, ignoring or underestimating our conscience that is now awakened by the Spirit of YeHoVaH that dwells in us.
What to do? How do we deal with these problems? It is in these moments when we must take advantage of the resource provided by our Father to be restored in our journey: The Confession.
But I am not talking about going before another man to render an account of what we have done, but about talking with God, with YeHoVaH, to affirm what He himself defines as injustice, and then to accept that He is right, acknowledging that what we have done is sinful. Immediately afterward, we accept by faith the forgiveness that has already been granted to us through Yeshua and we carry on, redefining our spiritual journey.
You may ask yourself: “What if I have acted unfairly with someone; how have I done so?” There will always be situations in which we must go to the person we have hurt to admit that we have acted wrongly, for that too is confession. In other words, let that person know that you did wrong and then ask forgiveness for such behavior. But do not demand forgiveness; instead, you must grant him the option, through his own volition, to make that decision.
YeHoVaH provides us with a special day during the festive season of autumn – Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, or the day of liberation from the guilt that we have been carrying throughout the year. The tenth day of the Seventh month of YeHoVaH’s Calendar is set aside for us to audit ourselves. On such a day we are commanded to humble ourselves before YeHoVaH by following the biblical example of fasting. That day is considered a Shabbat in which no work should be done, when we must retire into silence and stillness to start fresh with our Creator.
In fact, to be able to do this we need to adequately prepare ourselves in the days leading up to this occasion, cultivating an attitude of introspection with the help of our Father, to bring to mind those intentions, attitudes, and behaviors that need to be corrected or repaired. And the first step to achieve this is The Confession, as we have mentioned before.
But more importantly, we should not wait until the annual arrival of Yom Kippur to mend our relationships with our Father and with others. This is something we need to do every day, just as we do with our bodies when we breathe. Just as we exhale toxins and inhale fresh, pure air, so also let us release our injustices through confession, and let us take in the forgiveness and justice that come from YeHoVaH through Yeshua, our Lord and Messiah.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
