The “F” word…
Do you struggle with forgiveness? I think there are three kinds of people:
1. Ones who struggle with forgiving others,
2. Ones who struggle with God’s forgiveness, and
3. Ones who lie.
Which one are you? In Ephesians 4:32, Paul says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
I fall in the first category. At times, I struggle with forgiving others. I may say, ‘I forgive you,’ but then hold what they did over them. I put on a smile, make it look like all is forgiven, but I am holding on to it. Forgiveness is to ‘give up all claim on account of an offense or debt,’ and it is that ALL that gets me every time.
I have a good friend who struggles with the second category. He struggles with embracing God’s forgiveness. He says, ‘I have done way too much, God cannot forgive all that I have done.’ He sees the scales of justice, and his side carries too much weight. I tell him, to look at the “in Christ” in this passage. It is the blood of Christ that was spilled for him, that outweighs all that he has done. Nothing can outweigh the blood of the Son of God.
In Christ, God has forgiven us, and because of that we can forgive each other. Can you live in God’s forgiveness, and can you forgive others today?
“Nothing can outweigh the blood of the Son of God.” Nothing we do wrong will ever outweigh the sacrafice He made on the cross.
That is so powerful. Thank you for the this reminder.