Psalm 38:3-4, The Message
I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months
because of your
accusation.
My bones are brittle as dry sticks
because of my
sin.
I’m swamped by my bad behavior,
collapsed under
an avalanche of guilt.
I
encourage you to read all of Psalm 38 today even though I just included a
couple of verses of it above. It is a poignant description of how devastating
sin can be upon a soul. You can sense
David’s pain as he reflects on the effects his mistakes have had upon his life
and well-being. This brings up another important
clarification concerning forgiveness.
Forgiveness does no in any way minimize the seriousness of our sin. God’s forgiveness of us does not instantly
make the sin in our life not so bad.
Forgiveness
is not an excusal, minimization, or justification of a wrong. It is not calling a wrong right or even
okay. From time to time, people have
apologized to me for something they did that was hurtful and my minimizing
response is “it’s okay.” That’s not forgiveness. That’s me trying to eliminate the
uncomfortable feeling between me and the offender. I am guilty of bringing out
this imposter of forgiveness often because I want the discomfort to go
away. But all too often, the offense
continues to hurt me after I have said that “it’s okay.” In fact, I have noticed that sometimes, it’s
even worse because now I have told the offender that their offense was “okay”
and they may even feel forgiven.
The problem is that no forgiveness
has actually taken place. The offender
believes she is forgiven and yet, I am still holding onto the offense. It is
precisely because something happened that was not okay that forgiveness is
needed. Forgiveness is the technology we
use to move through and beyond the wrong that has occurred. Forgiveness makes a healed and restored life possible
after the offense. Even after we have
received God’s forgiveness, God does not look back at what happened and say,
“that was ok.” Because it was NOT okay, God
chose to forgive.
God has forgiven your sin. That promise is made dozens of times in scripture. However, the expectation is that, as we accept
God’s forgiveness, we also accept God’s help in moving away from the sin that
entangled us. Forgiveness is given so
that we may be free and we have a role to play in our freedom. We work to replace the unhealthy habits in
our life with life-giving habits that God teaches us.
Questions: Have you
been able to accept God’s forgiveness for past mistakes? In what way are you moving away from those
mistakes?
Prayer: Like David
Lord, our sins have caused us and are causing us pain. Help us accept your forgiveness and help us
know what steps we can make to move toward life as you have taught us. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the families of people who have committed suicide.
Song: Take Time To Be
Holy – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
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