Forgiven Sin by Alyssa Bocanegra

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
Philippians 2:13

When I was about 8 years old I was walking home with my older sister, when I realized I had lost the house key, and my mom wasn't home. When we got there, I was in a panic. We searched the garage to find something we could stand on to break into one of the windows. We found my mom's shop vac vacuum cleaner. It was the middle of winter, but we managed to drag it out and stand on top of it and break in. Success! We got in. But in the midst of the excitement we forgot the shop vac outside. The next day there was a snow storm and the vacuum was destroyed. The neighbor had seen the whole thing and ratted us out.
Now if we just would of called my mom and confessed to losing the keys, she would of helped us- no harm done. But instead we wanted to fix the problem, before we faced our mom. I think many times when we go to God we have that same attitude. We want to try to “fix” our sin and then go to God for forgiveness. We want to be sanctified (be made holy) before we are justified (forgiven). I once heard someone say, “The only sins we can have any headway in overcoming are forgiven sins.” It is God who works in us to forgive and help us overcome our sins.