The Eighteen-Hour Laundry Day

It was my turn to do laundry. At my house, wet laundry often gets hung out
on a backyard clothesline to dry in the sunshine and breeze. Sometimes,
though, we use our clothes dryer. But its timer broke years ago, so we have
to set a separate timer when we use the dryer.

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One afternoon, I was using the dryer and a load of laundry seemed slow to
finish drying. I restarted it and reset my timer. When the timer buzzed, I
checked the laundry again. One towel remained damp. I returned it to the
dryer to continue drying. Only I forgot to set a timer this time. For the
rest of the day—and night—the dryer ran without me (or anybody else in my
family) realizing it. The next morning,

I discovered the clothes dryer still in action. After stopping the machine,
I snatched the towel out and stomped off to confront my family.

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When they all denied leaving the dryer on, I recalled I’d been the one to
leave it running for almost eighteen hours. I sheepishly apologized for my
unfair accusations, acknowledging my own mistake and my need for their
forgiveness after the way I’d treated them.

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Being honest about our sins is part of living as a follower of Jesus. When
we put our trust in Jesus, He brings us into a relationship with God and
makes us part of His family. On top of that, we receive all the forgiveness
we’ll ever need because He provided the payment for our sins when He died
on the cross and rose from the dead. That means we can be honest about our
failures because we know that God already sees all our sin, and He loves us
unconditionally. Since we belong to Jesus, we can humbly acknowledge our
mistakes and sins, take responsibility for them, and move forward in the
grace He gives. • Allison Wilson Lee

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• While forgetting about a laundry machine is a mistake, lashing out
against others in anger is a sin (Galatians 5:13-15). Thankfully, God wants
to forgive our sins, and He also wants to help us when we make mistakes.
How could these truths give us hope when we mess up?

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• As followers of Jesus, we are called to be humble, to treat each other
well, and to forgive one another when we mess up. How does knowing Jesus
make it possible for us to be honest with each other about our failures?

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Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you
up in due time. 1 Peter 5:6 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Eph.4.25-Eph.5.2|1Pet.5.6