Often times we feel like God cannot use us because of our sinful past. Though we have repented of our sins before God and asked for forgiveness, we cannot find it in ourselves to forgive ourselves. If you think about it for a moment, it is kind of presumptuous to dismiss the forgiveness that God offers to us as if He can’t cleanse us.
The Bible tells us David was a young man after God’s own heart. But, having a heart after God’s own heart does not mean you do not make mistakes. However, it does mean you will be repentant. It means when you sin, you will not remain in sin. John says in 1 John that those who abide in Christ do not remain in sin. John is not saying you are not going to sin. He essentially means you are not going to be comfortable in sin. You are not going to stay there. You will come back to repentance.
When God chose David and anointed him the next king of Israel after Saul, God, being omniscient, knew that David would fall into sin. He saw the adulterous act with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband before it happened. But, He also saw that David would return in repentance and obedience to the Lord. After David’s affair with Bathsheba, he wrote in Psalm 51:10 KJV, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
God knows we’re not perfect, far from it, but He will not turn His back upon the penitent man. And God can and will use a man or woman who has submitted to Him in repentance to serve Him in the kingdom.
June 19, 2026
