Father, I come to You honestly. I have done things I am not proud of, and I have left good things undone. Some of it I have avoided thinking about for a long time. You already know it all, and still You invite me to come to You.
I confess to You now: the harsh words I said in anger, the ways I have been selfish with my time and my love, the grudges I have fed instead of released. I am sorry. Thank You that You are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me. I receive that forgiveness, even when I struggle to forgive myself.
Now help me forgive those who have hurt me. You know who they are, and You know how deep it goes. I do not have to pretend it did not matter. But I do not want to carry this anymore. Give me the strength to let it go, one day at a time if I have to, and to leave justice in Your hands.
Show me if there is someone I need to apologize to, and give me the humility to do it. Make my heart clean and soft again. Let me live today as someone who has been forgiven. In Jesus' name, Amen.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 (KJV)