Forgiveness...It Is A Wonderful Thing

Forgiveness.

What a beautiful word.

It is probably my favorite word out of all the words in all of the languages in the world. Why? Well because without it I would be a dead man. Sure, I would have "fun" for the short time I am here on planet earth, but ultimately I would spend much longer (eternity actually) in absolute agony, separated from God.

At Passion 2012 just a little over a week ago, Louie Giglio talked about forgiveness and who you should forgive. One of the things that he said was that you have to forgive yourself. At first I was thinking that it sounded kind of cliche, but as he kept talking it made perfect sense. I mean, what are we really saying if we don't forgive ourselves for the things we do? Ultimately we might as well spit in Christ's bloody beaten face and say that his sacrifice on the cross was not enough to pay for our sins! Because when we beat ourselves up over our sin and punish ourselves for it, that is exactly what we are doing. Christ has forgiven us if we have come to him and asked for it. And he doesn't forgive us but remember what we did and constantly remind us of how horrible we are for having done that. No. Here is how God forgives.

Hebrews 10:17-18-Then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no long any offering for sin. (This was quoting Jeremiah 31:34)


Jeremiah 31:31-34-Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

And Paul says this about his mindset which I believe we would all do well to mimic to the best of our abilities:


Philippians 3:12-13-Not that I have already obtained this (becoming like Christ) or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.

We cannot be all out for the Lord if we are being held back by our sins. This is why He offers total and complete forgiveness. We don't have to do ANYTHING to obtain it other than accept it. So what are we waiting for?