How can I be clean?

Proverbs 20:9

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; 

I am clean from my sin”? 

This is quite hard hitting - who can make themselves pure? 

Who can undo the things they have done wrong? 

Who can free themselves from the burden of guilt? 

Yep, you guessed it - no-one! 

We can't do this ourselves. We can try to forget, but it creeps into our minds when we least expect it and weighs us down. The consciousness that we have hurt people and done what's wrong can tarnish our minds in many ways. 

If we have got away with something we can be wracked with guilt and a feeling that we need to be punished, we can even punish ourselves. We can focus on our wrongdoing until we even allow it to become part of our identity. 

It's not an intentional thing, it is a recognition that we have stuffed up, the problem is we can focus on that. We all do things wrong, get things wrong and say things wrong. It's good that we recognise and regret the things we do wrong, it's good that we recognise we are not perfect. 

But then what? 

It's not good to dwell in our sin, or fester over our guilt, there is no positive outcome to that. So, how can we get over it? - Wipe it away and be clean again? 

This verse reiterates what we already know - we cannot make ourselves pure, we cannot decide we are clean. We can't do it!

We can and will remind ourselves regularly that we are not clean or pure, that we are in fact imperfect beings incapable of cleaning up our hearts and releasing us from guilt and regret. That we can do, but we can't free ourselves from the memories, the guilt and shame. 

What's the answer then? The answer is, we need forgiveness. We cannot forgive ourselves because we are corrupted beings, we sin and don't have the strength to overcome the guilt. 

But.......THERE IS GOOD NEWS:

You can be forgiven

You can be free from guilt and shame

You can be clean

Your heart can be pure! 

How???

Well, we already discovered we need to be forgiven. We can't forgive ourselves because we don't have the power or purity to do that, but there is one who does. His name is Jesus. He is God's son. He lived on Earth, lived perfectly, he never did anything wrong. Then this perfect man was killed. He died pure and clean so that we can be forgiven for our wrongdoing, so that we can have freedom from guilt and shame and or hearts can be made new. 

Jesus took the very real, painful punishment for your sin. He stepped in so that you don't need to punish yourself any longer. You can be free from the reminder of what you've done. Your identity can be renewed in him as one with a pure heart. 

You cannot purify yourself, only someone who is pure can purify you, that person is Jesus. Don't live in guilt and shame any longer. Accept Jesus for who he is - the mighty son of God who has lived and died for your sake, for your freedom.