By Andrea Goebel
God’s Way
“It’s two minutes until 3 p.m.!” my daughter shouted from the kitchen.
“Okay, let’s think about what prayers we want to pray,” I responded as I carried our littlest one to the play room and gathered my older son close to my lap.
In the days leading up to Holy Week, I had pondered what activity I would do with my children to help them understand the importance of Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins. But I felt intimidated: what could I say or do that would help them appreciate the magnitude of Jesus’s sacrifice on Good Friday?
I read blogs about crafts we could create, and one stuck out to me above the others. A mom shared how her children listed their sins on sheets of dissolvable paper and then nailed the papers to a simple wooden cross. Then, she poured red-colored water over the papers, and her kids watched in awe as the paper and their “sins” dissolved. Although I loved the concept behind this idea, we lacked a few of the supplies needed, so I decided to save the idea for another time and simply asked God for discernment on having a moving discussion with the kids about the real meaning of Good Friday.
Now that our prayer time had arrived, I searched for appropriate words to capture the essence of this moment. However, before I could speak, a wave of humility washed over me, and the Holy Spirit did the work for me.
Jesus loves us so much that he died for our sins. I wanted my children to feel his love and realize that no matter what they did, if they brought it to Jesus on the cross, he would forgive them and wash their hearts clean.
At that moment, I realized I needed that lesson as much as they did. It had been “one of those days.” I had been rushing around, trying to do too much and not putting the kids’ needs first. Nothing seemed to go right, and I had inadvertently taken my frustration out on the kids. Now, I needed to apologize for my own sins and seek his forgiveness — and my children’s.
God humbled me in a moment that nearly brought me to tears. How could I teach my children about the weight of sin, the need for repentance, the grace of forgiveness and the joy of reconciliation if I didn’t practice it myself?
I felt so vulnerable, knowing I was a sinner in need of forgiveness. I thought I was going to be the teacher, but here I was, still a student learning how to be a disciple of God.
“Jesus took the weight of all of our sins on the cross with him, and he forgives us for all our sins if we tell him we’re sorry and ask for his forgiveness. Even the sins we commit against each other. We need to apologize to him and each other.”
“I’m sorry for how I acted earlier.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Will you forgive me?”
“I’m sorry, too,” my young one replied.
A sadness lifted off my heart.
We read of Jesus’s sacrifice and God’s forgiveness throughout the Bible.
The prophet Isaiah foretells: “But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
1 John 1:9 reminds us, “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.”
It’s still sometimes hard for me to comprehend Jesus’ death on the cross. The painful death he endured, the way his death made a path to heaven for us, the forgiveness he offers each and every one of us.
When I struggle with sin, I sometimes feel like I can’t forgive myself. But God already has. And it’s in those moments that we need to remember his great love for us. When we let him love us, then we can accept his forgiveness and truly be free.