“That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
—2 Corinthians 5:19a ESV

When we approach God to pray, the first thing that often comes to mind is our mistakes.

Perhaps there have been times when you didn’t even dare to pray because of the guilt and shame that you felt.

Let’s take a moment to think about this reality: God, in Jesus, chose to relate to people “not counting their trespasses against them.” This can be literally translated as, “not reckoning to them their trespasses.” In a legal setting, that would be the same as saying, “I recognize that you have done wrong, but I am not going to hold you responsible for what you did.”

That is scandalous.

And it is also the heart of the Gospel message of reconciliation.

This means that when God sees you, he doesn’t hold your sins against you.

Think about that for a moment.

When you approach God full of shame and don’t even dare to lift your head because of your guilt, he isn’t even taking your sins into account.

How is this possible? Because, in order to not reckon our sins to us, God counted them against Jesus, who paid the highest price and “carried our sins on his body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV).

Remember that the next time you feel too ashamed to pray.

Here is a short prayer to carry with you today:

Breathe in: You don’t count my sins against me.
Breathe out: I will make no room for guilt.