There is a topic that people do not like to discuss. We hate talking about our failings, our mistakes, and our sins. There is something in us that loves to hear praise and hates to hear correction. I heard someone recently who I knew had slandered someone else. They publically spoke about the need to repent in general, but they never acknowledged their own need to repent personally. Their repentance consisted of words spoken to others. I began to think of how we can know that repentance is real. I was reading today in Leviticus and I began to think about this passage. I edited it a bit to draw out the items that caught my eye and my thoughts.
“”If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible […] The Lord said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do— when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering. […] ” (Leviticus 5:17–6:6, NIV)
So if I do something that I did not know was wrong at the time, I am still guilty. Over the course of time, when I learn, study and grow and realize that my actions were wrong, the Bible says I am still responsible. So let us say, hypothetically, that I at one time, not knowing I was wrong, began to speak against another brother in the Lord. I felt this brother was deceived. I did not go to this brother privately. Instead, I spoke against this brother to people I knew and shared how I felt about him. My comments caused the brother to lose friends. My comments spread. My comments caused my brother to lose income. Later, I realize that I was guilty of slandering my brother.
Most Christians take their sin and say “OK God, I sinned. I am sorry. I won’t do it again.” Many times it is enough. However, there is a need to make things right. If I see my brother, and my past sin is still affecting him, there are things I must do.
This passage in Leviticus says we are to restore all the damage with 20% more on the day we confess our sin. If my slander cost my brother $100, I should go to him, confess my wrong doing, seek forgiveness and give him $120 to make it right.
There is a story in the New Testament that confirms this principle. “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” ” (Luke 19:8–10, NIV) Zacchaeus not only promised to repay the additional 20% required, he understood the hurt he inflicted on others and declared repayment of 400%. Zacchaeus said he would do everything he was able to make things right.
Sin hurts people. My sin and your sin affect and wound those around us. When we realize that we have sinned, as much as we are able, we must go to the people we have harmed and make it right.
Can you imagine how strong you would become as you learned to live the principle of “making it right”?
