God knows everything, but this does not eliminate man’s responsibility to confess his sins. Failure to do so forfeits God’s practical forgiveness.
When an individual gets things right with God, he should likewise look for opportunities to make things right with others he might have done wrong.
Many people choose to continue in sin thinking that the consequences are not mounting up. The scriptures indicate something quite different.
There are two categories of sin: sins against God and sins against man. By default, every sin is against God. Yet, not all sin is against man.
God's children are supposed to be easily recognizable through their love one for another (John 13:35). Today's passage teaches Christians to be both kind and forgiving. In the midst of these two exemplary qualities, the Lord desires His children to show forth a tender heart. This means that our hearts ought to be easily moved when other believers are experiencing either joy or distress in their lives (Romans 12:15). Unfortunately, instead of exemplifying a tender heart, far too many believers are becoming more like the world by displaying a divisive spirit and by devouring one another (Galatians 5:15). Believers who are hard-hearted toward others are generally hard-hearted toward the Lord as well (1 John 3:17).
