God is the only source of pure and complete forgiveness. Forgiveness is a rare and powerful gift from God. The key to receiving God’s forgiveness is found at the beginning of 1 John 1:9. The small word if can also be translated as when. Either way, the forgiveness of God is our gift that, like the gift of salvation, must be received.

God wants to forgive us and wants to rid our lives of everything that hinders our right relationship with him. In many ways, God’s forgiveness is the opposite of our own. We tend to forgive because we know we should. We often forgive with a sense of self-righteousness while God forgives because he wants us to become righteous.

That’s why God paves the road to forgiveness with the act of confession. When we confess our sins, we understand God’s goal in our lives. God doesn’t want us to simply get past our sins; he asks us to be finished with them. Confession comes from a place of deep remorse, or sorrow. Confession is grieving what has separated us from a right relationship with God. That is what Jesus meant when he said “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

When God knows we have truly confessed our sins, he knows we are ready to receive his forgiveness and accept the changes in our lives that he wants to bring about. He wants us to live a life he is able to fill with his blessings. He wants us to live a life that is redeemed and cleansed from anything that harms our souls. 

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is knowing that God wants you to have his forgiveness and redemption in your life so that you can be made right with him and so that you can forgive others as you have been forgiven yourself.