These are surely the most precious words to the person who has failed. The sense of blame is crushing and the voice of accusation is very loud. We have disobeyed the commandments and hurt ourselves and other people. We have made a mess of our lives and disappointed others.
We ask why. Why did I do this? What was the situation I was in and why did I choose the wrong path in dealing with my own troubles? Every person who fails has to answer these kinds of questions. If we are to learn we must ask ourselves difficult things.
God must stop us in our tracks. We get so caught up in what we are doing it all gets enmeshed in our lives and we are trapped. If God is for us, He will intervene and make us see what we are doing, and cause us to confront our failure. He will take away everything that is necessary to bring you back to Himself. We must repent and turn from our sin and ask Him to forgive. God will forgive and allow us to live and depend on Him. Our faith can grow, and we will stay away from trouble. Repentance brings forgiveness.
God can forgive us because of who He is and what His Son, Jesus did on the cross. He took the penalty for our sin and He can break its power in our lives. It’s a simple message, to be sorry about what you have done, said or thought and bring it to God and ask Him to take it away. He will forgive and give you the victory over the sins we hide inside ourselves.
It is more difficult for others to forgive, especially if we have hurt them badly and let them down in a major way. We must wait for the time of forgiveness and pray that God will change hearts and minds to forgive. Humans do not forgive, even little things, and only the heart that belongs to God, will be able to do so. If we harbour resentment and pride, we hurt ourselves and the effect of the sin gets worse.
We need to practice repenting and forgiving every day, little things as well as big things.
When we sin, we can think it is ok, until it is pointed out to us what we are doing, and then comes humiliation. We feel the effects of our unfaithfulness, and it is horrifying. The weight of it can crush us, and we can easily loose our faith. When everything is against us we must hold on to the fact that God loves us and wants to forgive. His grace really is so amazing. To know it in your life, brings peace and great hope, that He can change anyone. God waits for us to come to our senses, and face up. Every time we do, He is sufficient, and so our faith grows and our love for our Saviour Jesus, also grows. But if we harbour grudges, and refuse to repent or forgive, our spiritual life will be stunted, if it was ever there at all.
It is a major issue to our human lives. Without these two graces, we have no faith and no hope. Grace is the harbinger of blessing, and our lives must irradiate grace, which is the light of God shining through.
When someone sins against us, we can react badly and refuse to forgive. We blame the other person, since they are the sinner. We use it as an excuse not to forgive. Anger, blame and resentment eat away at us, and we loose blessing in God. Our life with God is shallow and our life is not blessed as it could be. Relationships fail, because we won’t forgive. Pride takes prime place. We think it is the sinner’s fault that we have no blessing, but if another thing had happened, we would have the same ungracious reaction.
God will never let us run away from our fault. He requires that we face it and repent of it and receive His blessing in our lives. Some one may have to carry the burden of our unforgiving attitude and some people become the scapegoat for the sins of others. This is not God’s way. God is not in the business of blaming people… He waits to forgive. He is waiting for you. He never gives up, never retaliates and never blames. This is why the Christian loves Him, because He is ultimate love. To know that love, is the greatest thing, even if you loose everything and everyone you love, He will make it up to you. He has a long-term plan, so that all are saved from sin and death, and His ultimate purpose is that His people live Iives full of service for Him.
Repent: say “I’m sorry”
Forgive: say “I forgive you”
It’s that simple, but we must work it our daily in our lives and endure the inevitable ravages of blame, guilt, anxiety, as we rebuild our lives each time we sin. We must not look back, or crave the things of this world an longer. We work for our God and our loving Master, and He knows what is best for us. He can use any situation to bring glory and praise to Himself, and blessing to His children. The impossible is possible with God, and He will not allow His people to wallow in the shallows of disobedience and selfishness.
If you have sinned badly, you can put it behind you, but it may not be so easy for others. It can come back to you and you may have to suffer loss and rejection because of what you have done. Don’t be discouraged, God will not leave you, and He will provide what you need some other way. Do not take on the sins of others against you, as if they were your fault. Everyone has to deal with their own sins, whatever they might be. To imagine that you would not have a particular sin, unless the person who sinned had not done the thing against you, is not right. Our sins come out some way or another, and how we deal with them, is crucial. If we bring them to the Lord, He will abundantly pardon us, and strengthen us to forgive the wrong-doer. The Christian has the Holy Spirit to give the power and grace to carry out God’s commands.
Relationships can get so broken. They fail. Only the greater purpose of God will allow us to cope with this disappointing fact. Life’s twists and turns we cannot see coming, but we rest on the loving arms of our God. Only He can fix us, because we certainly cannot fix ourselves. We will also need plenty of Christians friends who we can talk to and try to put the pieces of our lives back together. The wisdom of these people, will help us and encourage us.
My prayer is that we will all experience repentance and forgiveness and that our lives would bear fruit for God, especially in our family settings. Sometimes he has to break our hearts to get us to see what we are really like. His love bears with us and gives all we need for time and eternity. May we grasp the blessing when it is held out us….
Daughters of the Kingdom 