There is no one we need like we need God—even if we don’t realize it. He gives us life. And after we are born again, we have over 4 trillion worth of forgiveness in our forgiveness bank. If we want to keep our relationship with God healthy, it is critical that we train ourselves to quickly and thoroughly forgive others. The forgiveness we experience when we are born again makes us spiritually alive and able to HAVE a relationship with Him; and the forgiveness we give during our walk with God DRAWS us deeper into the relationship.
The depth of God’s forgiveness towards us is remarkably humbling and it inspires us to freely forgive each other.
Seriously, God’s forgiveness is unparalleled in human experience. Imagine if your son greeted you each day with a crushing punch in the face and then would say, oh so contritely: “I’m so sorry, please forgive me.” Imagine, as you forgave him, you knew that tomorrow he would greet you with another punch in the face and that he would do the same thing everyday for the rest of your life. Don’t you think your forgiveness might wear thin—despite the fact you love him dearly? At some point would you doubt the sincerity of his apology?
Ah, this is exactly what God deals with—with each of us!
If we are God’s child because we have been born again, our soul and spirit have been made righteous. But God knows our flesh is not any better than the day we were born again. Thus, we should praise Him because of His great mercy. God forgives us far beyond what we are capable of even comprehending!
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23
God pardons our present trespasses whilst He knows our future crimes against His love; thus we have no reason to withhold the gift of forgiveness from each other.
The fact is, God knows we, as His children, will require oceans of forgiveness from Him over our lifetime. His vast forgiveness places in us the critical realization of how much we NEED to forgive each other. On top of that…Jesus said:
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15
By both giving forgiveness to each other and receiving it from God—we keep the walls down and our relationship with God is fresh and new.
To forgive is to share the gift of forgiveness God gives us!
Our merciful and generous Father knows our frailty and our desperate need for Him. When Christ made the decision to be born as a helpless baby and die a terrible death, He did so to offer us a measure of forgiveness we cannot comprehend.
The vast sea of God’s forgiveness towards us places our life into perspective and—we live thankful and humble lives.
God’s forgiveness is so profound that when we wrap our mind around it, it touches our pitiful human heart and transforms it. God’s immense goodness changes us and His forgiveness fills our hearts and produces gifts of joy we would never have without it.
Forgiveness from God is a gift that enables us to keep forgiving each other.
