The Bible makes a
monumental case out of the fact that forgiveness is a fundamental exercise in
our Christian walk. Jesus, Paul and many of the other authors note various
aspect of forgiving our self and others (Matthew 6:14-15; Colossians 3:13).
Forgiveness is one of the hardest concepts to grasp
and to obey God's directive. We want to hold grudges, thinking we are punishing
the offending party; but we are actually only harming our self and our physical
and spiritual health.
While balancing my checkbook at the end of the
month, I clicked in two small numbers into the calculator and came out with an
enormous number as the result.
Shocked, I sat there in disbelief. Then, I
remembered that I forgot to clear the information, which I entered into the
calculator earlier and this resulted in the confusion and misinformation.
This reminded me that we often carry with us, into
our new life in Christ, the condemnation that accompanies our sinful lifestyle
of the past. Yet, God forgot all of our sins when we repented and believed in
Jesus as our Savior.
There is no longer any condemnation for them,
because He cast our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He
remembers them no more (Hebrews 8:12).
Once we realize that God forgives us, it is easier
for us to forgive our self, as well as those who offend us. We can delete the
balance of our sins from our mind and heart.
God no longer remember them, so why should we? He
freely gives us His forgiveness and unconditional love, which accompanies us for
the rest of our life.
Prayer:
Father
God, nothing takes You by surprise, because You know the end of time from the
beginning. Every moment is present before You, because You are not hindered by
time, space or matter. You live outside of the realm of earthly hindrances and
restrictions. You are immortal and there are no limits to Your knowledge, power
or goodness.
Thank
You for loving us so completely, for coming to earth as Emanuel and for saving
us from our self. You set our feet to dancing (Psalm 30:11), and You give us
feet like a goat's feet to traverse the rocky heights of danger in this world
(Psalm 18:33). We look forward to spending eternity with You when Your Kingdoms
comes to the earth (Matthew 6:10).
Thought for the Day:
God remembers our sins no more.
