Today reminded me again how wonderful God is and His mercifulness and grace in offering us forgiveness. Christ showed me what a wonderful model He is for our lives in forgiving--and dying for--each of our sins. Though we often hold grudges and our actions have earthly consequences due to sin--even after offering forgiveness, God completely blots them out. In Isaiah 43:25, He tells us, I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
What a wonderful thought: God, our judge, does not remember the sins we've asked forgiveness for. He keeps an eternally clean slate.
In Psalm 103:10-12, David praises God for the way He separates our forgiven sins from us:
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Joshua Harris' Boy Meets Girl has several excellent things to say about forgiveness, particular on the subject of sexual sin. The chapter reminded me that no sin is worse than the sin we are forgiven for when we accept Christ into our life. We are all responsible for the death of Christ on the cross. If God graciously forgives us for the death of His Son, surely He will forgive any other sin, should we desire and ask for repentance.
My life is a prime example that forgiveness works. Throughout my weblog, I've told stories of broken relationships that have been reconciled. I am a student of forgiveness as taught by God and modeled by Christ. It's never too late to learn the lesson of forgiveness.
