Day 10.
Written by Jennschem
Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 10:54 PM.
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt 26:28)
Forgiveness is an incredibly important part of God Himself. We sin against Him daily, hourly some days, in our thoughts, in our hearts. We are a sinful, horrible people. Yet while we are still sinners, He died for us. He forgave us, He loves us so much, that He died for a people He could and should hate. He had every right to hate us, yet no, He LOVES us! How incredible, How great, is a love that forgives!
We can't even look at this enough, we have tons of illustrations from the Bible that Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. He forgave and continues to forgive! He went through the torture of life and death on earth, then resurrected so that we might have life! Stop living in fear and worry and doubt that you are a beloved. God isn't abandoning you, dear Child. God died for you, stop doubting the velocity of His tender love, compassion, and forgiveness.
No amount of righteousness, no amount of "perfection" about us, can increase God's forgiveness or love for us! I am no better than anyone. For we all sin! Yet, only through God's grace are we forgiven, and quite astoundingly, we are loved!
"What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:9-18)
NONE of us can amount up to perfection. Not even one. Oh Jesus loves you, its not something you earn, can amount up to, or can do anything to enhance or degrade! Jesus LOVES YOU!! Praise God for that amazing love He has given so freely!
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunishedâ he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26)
"Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law." (Romans 3:31)
Dear Child, How do we honor our Father in Heaven if we aren't going to obey Him? Jesus Said, If you love the Father, You will obey me. Only through Grace do we really come to repentance, only through grace and forgiveness of our sins are we saved.
He always takes you back. There is never a moment that He is not sitting on edge with baited breath, just waiting for you to turn back. He's not shunning you, shaming you. He's waiting with open arms for a child He loves. His heart-broken heart, abused and misused unendingly, is willing to take it all over and over again, just for you. Just for us. His beloved, Dearly beloved Children.
Jesus Christ said to Peter, to forgive his neighbor seventy times seven, not the literal number four-hundred ninety, but metaphorically, ALWAYS forgive! Jesus separates us from our sin as far as the east is from the west, shouldn't we do that with those we love, and our enemies as well? Forgiveness is so freeing, so beautiful, like a rose after the thorns have pricked your fingers.
Even if someone doesn't ask forgiveness, do we hold it against them? Do we carry them and their transgression beside us, and harbor our hatred in our heart. Do we let ourselves hang onto it, simply because they didn't say sorry.
No! No, no, no. Are we ever to stop forgiving? Are we ever to let the sun go down on our anger? It destroys us and does nothing to them! We are put into slavery and they are free to live, free of guilt, free of possibly even knowledge of what they've done to you.
When we don't forgive, it's our problem, not theirs. When we don't drop what they've done to us, when we don't forgive and forget, and give a second chance, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth chance, we are put into chains, and lose so much of what God gave us.
Human love is imperfect, always going to fail us and always going to hurt us, but Jesus isn't like that! Love from humans is but a taste of what Jesus has in store for us, of what Jesus has to offer. A love that never fails. Oh God, thank You for the beautiful love You have poured out upon us.
We are all in need of forgiveness, none of us are perfect, none of us are without a failure, having hurt either God or ourselves, or someone else. The beautiful, astronomical thing is; Jesus always, always forgives us. Always loves us, never stops. Believe in that beautiful redemptive blood that He spilled out just for you! Because He loves you, and forgiveness was held out for you.
And if we are to live as Jesus lives, we forgive everything. It's never easy, but always freeing. Always beautiful in the end.
