“For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.”
– Psalm 38:4
Indeed! If we truly understood the enormity of all that we’ve done wrong in our lives – the hurtful actions, hateful words, vile thoughts, selfishness, cruelty, callousness, self-centeredness, obliviousness, cowardice – we would agree with the psalmist that it is too heavy for us to bear. Our mountain of sinful thoughts, words, actions, silence, and inaction is piled up far above our head. It is far, far too much for us to carry through life ourselves, not to mention the consequences in death.
Fortunately, we don’t have to carry this burden! In His mercy, love, and grace, God sent His eternal Son Jesus to bear these things for us! Jesus Christ never did any of these sinful things, but despite His eternal, sinless, perfection He chose to sacrifice Himself on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” At the cross, Christ bore all the weight of our sin, so we wouldn’t have to. By His death and glorious resurrection, Jesus erases our debt of sin when we put our faith in Him.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace, we know, “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). You don’t need to carry around the weight of the sinful past or shameful present – turn to Christ in faith and ask God’s forgiveness in sorrow and you will always be forgiven and free.