There is so much written on the issue of forgiveness I doubt that I have very little to say that you have not heard before. However, I have recently learned some new things about forgiveness and definitely felt some new things about forgiveness.
When someone wrongs us we do not have the ability to forget. The phrase "if you haven't forgotten you haven't forgiven" is just untrue. We just do not have the ability to forget. But, we can commit to forgive, give those feelings to the Lord, ask Him to let His forgiveness flow through us to the other person, and move on. We are not to hold the offense over the other person.
Although I knew God's forgiveness was pure and complete, because I still have memories of my own sin, I guess I thought He did too. I thought that even though the Bible says He does not remember them, that He really just did not hold them against me. It is amazing to me how I still take my "truth" and make it into God's truth when it is not. We as humans are so prone to take our experiences and make them into "truth". We must always, always, always measure our experiences and our feelings against God's Word to find the real truth.
I have recently been reading the second autobiography of Corrie ten Boom. In a chapter that she titles "The Blacks and Whites of Forgiveness" she writes the most profound statement:
The forgiveness of Jesus not only takes away our sins, it makes them as if they had never been.
As I read this the other day it was as if the Holy Spirit erupted from within me and filled my entire room. I found myself weeping and just praising God for the truth of His forgiveness. Do you realize what that means? Just let it sink in for a little while and then praise Him for the ultimate gift and the freedom it brings. He has canceled all of our debts and made them as if they had never been.
If you ever find yourself in the depths of despair, this fact alone is enough to bring rejoicing. Share it with someone else today. He is an amazing God.
No comments:
Post a Comment