Confession

he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
Numbers 5:7 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/num.5.7.ESV

In the new covenant, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In the old covenant here, restitution had to be made. If someone was wronged, amends had to be made.

I know we're no longer bound to keep the old covenant under the new one, but I think there's a principle here that can be applied. I know when I wronged someone, my wife encouraged me to message them to apologise. I felt so much freer having done so.

Just imagine if every time we wronged someone we had to pay back with interest. We would think twice about wronging people in the first place. Sometimes a simple sorry doesn't cut it.

Often, we need to evidence that we're sorry for our evildoing by our actions. It's not enough to apologise, to confess our sins. We need to prove ourselves that we're sorry.

'Heavenly Father, we confess our sins to You. Please help us to live differently by Your Holy Spirit, as evidence of genuine repentance. In Christ's name, amen'

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