Forgive them all, O Lord:

our sins of omission and our sins of commission;

the sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years;

the sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies;

our secret and our more open sins;

our sins of ignorance and surprise,

and our more deliberate and presumptuous sins;

the sins we have done to please ourselves

and the sins we have done to please others;

the sins we know and remember,

and the sins we have forgotten;

the sins we have striven to hide from others

and the sins by which we have made others offend;

forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for his sake,

who died for our sins and rose for our justification,

and now stands at thy right hand to make intercession for us,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

John Wesley, 1703-1791, English churchman and founder of Methodism

 

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My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father

—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,

and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.