GOD FORGIVES

 

Friday, June 23, 2023

 

GOD FORGIVES

 

Ps 51:1

51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

 

Heb 10:17

17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

 

          The Bible teaches that God completely forgives sin – not universally – but by invitation (Isaiah 55:1). This invitation may be accepted or rejected and sets in motion corresponding consequences.

 

          The initiative comes from Him! (John 3:16; Col. 2:13) He stands ready to forgive (Luke 15:11-32). Forgiveness is part of His essential nature (Neh. 9:17; Daniel 9:9).

 

          In his book, Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.

 

Matt 6:12

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 

Dear Lord, help us to remove our monuments to pain and forgive those who caused it. This we will do in your strength and not in our weakness. AMEN