The Gift Of Forgiveness!
by Michael Nault
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 1 John 2:12
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. James 5:15
I have struggled with a few things in my past and in this case it was with a relationship with a young lady during my Youth With A Mission years. I have always struggled with communicating with others and as this relationship was moving past the friendship stage, I simply walked away from it never allowing her the chance to voice her thoughts and feelings and I never allowed myself the same. There was no resolution. And this has bothered me on occasion throughout the years.
The memory of this would rise up and I would wrestle with it, ask God to forgive me and I would struggle some more. But it would not go away. It was like having a ball and chain hooked to my neck and ankles. It bound me up!
Well a few weeks back the Lord gave me a revelation that set me free. While I was in the shower one morning the thought rushed into my mind: “What a gift forgiveness is!” And after I heard those words and pondered them, they had a profound affect upon me.
In a general way, I knew that the Lord had forgiven me. After all, I asked Him into my life many years ago by praying the sinner’s prayer. He came in and I walked with God to the best of my ability and strength (or to be more accurate I stumbled along with Him). I read the scriptures many times and yet there were still a few things in my life that nagged me from my past.
But the living word entered into my being. And in my spirit I felt the release. The ball and chain broke away, I was set free. The gift allows me to be free of my youthful indiscretions. And because of the gift of forgiveness from our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, we can forgive others and ourselves too. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Heb. 10:18
I am no longer the man of ten, twenty or thirty years ago. I am a new creation, a new creature in Christ. And the free gift of forgiveness allows me to live fully today and not be tethered to my past.
Yes, “what a gift forgiveness is!” Thank you Father, thank you Jesus. And thank you Holy Spirit for leading and guiding me into all the truth.