How to climb out of failure: 3 people you should seek forgiveness from Pt 2

For part 2 of how to climb out of failure, we look at who you should seek forgiveness from. Many dads say they doubt they’re doing this whole fatherhood thing right. Forgiveness is the remedy to your doubts as a dad.

If you’re seeking to be a godly dad, and model this walk to your child, you’ll need to understand and practice asking God for forgiveness.

Trust me on this: you will fail. To climb out of your failure, you need to seek forgiveness from God—which is what this post is all about.

Question: If you need to seek forgiveness from God, read Psalm 51.
Read David’s confession prayer as your own.

I recently wrote about Why our expectations are wrong and how to fix them and Faulty fixes you should avoid at all cost. And remember, there’s ten Field Guides to help you with in great detail with doubt and other struggles.

Note, this three-part series isn’t in a particular order—but there are three essential people you ultimately need to ask forgiveness from. We talked last week about seeking forgiveness from your child.

Let’s turn now to another essential person we must ask forgiveness from. Granted, maybe I should’ve started with this one! Here’s the deal: we’ll need forgiveness from God if we’re to climb out of the muck and mire of failure as a dad. Shocker? Maybe not. But often practiced? Also, probably not.

Second person you should seek forgiveness from: God.

Any sin we commit is ultimately a sin against God. When David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam. 11), he made this confession to God: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4). David was not denying his actions against Bathsheba and Uriah, but his sin was first and foremost against his creator.

This is true for you too.

Your mistakes and sins against your child are also sins against God.

The beauty of God is that, even though we fail Him, He doesn’t want us to fail. He waits to forgive us. He wants to restore us. We have this promise: “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).

It is really that simple. It’s hard for us to appreciate the depth and finality of God’s forgiveness because we can’t imagine forgiving someone to the degree God has forgiven us.

But thankfully, God is not like us. He wants to forgive us far more than we want to be forgiven.

How serious is God about desiring to forgive you?

Look at the cross. Jesus willingly took upon Himself the punishment and death we deserve. He went all the way to the cross to prove His love and the depth of His forgiveness.

God forgives. Believe it. Accept it. Relish in it. And come to Him in confession.

I’ve already alluded to the fact that seeking forgiveness is the easiest thing to do and also the hardest. We don’t have to accomplish any great feats; we just come and confess. That can be easy when we’re desperate for forgiveness, but it can also be hard for many of us because it calls for swallowing our pride and humbling ourselves before someone else. What’s manly about that?