Q:
I've lived a very sinful life, but now I'm old and have cancer, and I know I need to get right with God. But I feel so unclean that I can't imagine even asking God to forgive me because I know He must be fed up with me. Is there any hope for me?
A:
Yes, there is hope — because in spite of what you think, God still loves you and wants to welcome you into His family.
You see, God doesn’t treat us the way we usually treat each other. If someone hurts you, your first instinct is to hurt them back, or at least to have nothing more to do with them. Even if they admit they were wrong and try to become your friend again, you may well reject them.
But God isn’t like that! This doesn’t mean He overlooks our sins or ignores what we’ve done wrong; sin is an offense to God, because every time we sin we’re telling Him we don’t want anything to do with Him. But God’s love for us never fades away. In fact, His love for us is so strong that He was willing to send His Son into the world to give His life for us. The Bible says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Don’t put off your decision for Christ. Instead, by a simple prayer of faith confess to Him that you know you are a sinner. Then ask Him to forgive you and come into your life and save you — and He will. The Bible’s promise is for you: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).