We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you. Jeremiah 14:20 

Recognizing or realizing the truth is sometimes a difficult thing to do. Doing so may convict a person as being guilty of something wrong, and no one wants to be in the wrong. No one likes to be guilty of anything.

In order to prevent feeling guilty, people will ignore what is actually being done. They will ignore their actions as though they do not matter in any way. Or they will blame their actions upon someone else or some situation.

Jeremiah admits guilt for himself and all the people of Israel. He acknowledges their wickedness and sin against God.

Most people see themselves as basically a good person, not great, but definitely not bad or horrible. They know that they have some faults, but nothing great in their eyes.

This sounds good, until one measures them up against the standard of Jesus, who was perfect. Every person has sinned against God, in fact, most have sinned a lot against God. Sin is being wicked and evil, even in the ‘smallest’ of sins.

One of the first steps in being a believer and follower of Jesus is recognizing and acknowledging that one is a sinner–wicked in sin. Bringing this into the open with God is acknowledging the truth that He already knows.

Suppressing or hiding the truth of sin in one’s life does not change the truth of it. Repentance can only come when one recognizes and acknowledges his sin.

Once a person acknowledges the sin, he can repent of it and turn to God. In turn, God can forgive the sin and wipe it away, bringing about salvation and life.

Every believer needs to be willing to acknowledge every sin he has, so God can bring about change and forgiveness.

You may already be acknowledging many of the sins in your life. Allow God to examine you and see if there are any other sins you are missing.

How do your thoughts, actions and words line up with those of Jesus? It is easy to sin and then ignore it. Do not ignore it, but bring it before God. He knows about it already.

God is right there waiting to forgive you and help you change, if you will allow Him. Do not try to hide your sin, but admit is and move forward with God.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will admit your guilt to God; that you will turn away from all sin towards God; and that you will accept God’s forgiveness in your life.