For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Psalms 86:5
Every relationship requires a certain amount of forgiveness to survive. Even the first man and woman ended up in that situation with their relationship with the Creator. Everything was going along just fine, including evening walks with the Lord, until Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s one command at the time – they ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This certainly affected their relationship with God and got them put out of His presence. But the Lord did not leave them without hope; He declared there would be a time when the Seed of woman would crush the serpent’s head. Man would one day be restored back into God’s presence.
Forgiveness is one of the attributes of God that gets passed along to children when they are born. A young child is so sincere and trusting and ready to forgive. It’s these aspects of young children’s lives that reflect the Kingdom of God. But alas, oftentimes, as children begin to experience relationships in life not being what God intended for them to be, they could grow to be less sincere and less trusting and less inclined to forgive.
Young children can have a falling-out one minute and be the best of friends once again the next. Those same two people as adults could have even a slight misunderstanding that could lead to years (or maybe even a lifetime) of unforgiveness. It’s no wonder Jesus said we must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
To get back to that place of child-like (and God-like) forgiveness requires first receiving God’s forgiveness, for you can’t give something to someone else that you do not have yourself. You may feel at times that you cannot forgive yourself for things in your past because you still feel guilty. After all, how could a perfect God forgive you of your imperfections. The good news is that God, who knows you completely also loves you just as completely. When you call upon the Lord, He is there, not to condemn you but to restore you back into the relationship with Him that He always wanted. He is ready to forgive!
If you ever need a reminder of just how ready the Lord is to forgive you, think of Jesus hanging on that cross, suspended between heaven and earth, being put there and held there by His undying love for you — a love so great it was to die for. Literally. And, with each breath quickly counting down to His last, He asked His Father to do one more thing for Him before He departed this world. He asked for forgiveness. Not for Himself, for Jesus was without sin. He asked the Father to forgive those who put Him on that cross. And who put Jesus there? Every one who has ever lived, for all have sinned. Jesus took the sins of all the world upon Himself and today, just as on that day, He is ready to forgive.
The Lord wants to pour out His mercy upon you in abundance, if you will call upon Him. Forgiveness is not easy and it does not come without a price. Praise God, the price has already been paid by Jesus Christ. God is good and merciful to those who call upon Him. Don’t let anything stand in the way today, for He is ready to forgive!
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