Has anyone ever hurt you (physically, emotionally, or mentally)? Oftentimes those who hurt has the deepest are those we love the most. In the heat of an argument – tempers are lost and awful things are said and or done. Or sometimes, we take our loved Knesset for granted and neglect them. We come home from work and take our stresses out on them. We blame them for our problems. Or, trust is taken advantage of by parents or spouses or aunts and uncles. The list can in go and on. But because we love them and they are family and closet friends – we forgive them or they forgive us.
Forgiveness is hard though. It requires letting go of resentment, giving up claims of requital, not collecting debt, moving past the offense and pushing toward the future. We struggle with true forgiveness sometimes the most with the people who are the closer to us. We bring up past offenses. Hold on to secret resentments. We secret keep a tally on wrongs in case we need it for the future. Besides, how could someone who claims they love us treat us this way?
When we are tempted to act that way we need to remember that we are the offender with God. God loves he and we repeatedly hurt and disappoint him. We take advantage of His goodness. We neglect our relationship.
But thanks be to God that He doesn’t approach forgiveness the way we often do. God doesn’t keep a tally. He doesn’t hold resent or secret anger. He wipes the slate clean and believes we will do our best not to mess up again. He hopes for that.
God provides us forgiveness our sins through the blood of Jesus. And He provides it perpetually if we seek Him and tell Him we are sorry and try not to hurt Him again. And because He loves us He forgives us.
King David rejoiced in His forgiveness, “Blessed is He who is forgiven of His trespasses, whose sin is covered! (Psalm 32)”
Give your life to God and obey Him.
Acknowledge your sin to God.
Ask Him to forgive you.
Turn away from that sin and try not to do it again.
God will forgive you! Praise be to Jehovah – the God of our forgiveness!
Adonai's Appeal 