Peace That Comes WIth Forgiveness
Have you ever done something to someone and later regretted it? You weren’t sure on how to approach them to tell them you were sorry or even to ask for forgiveness. Often you would go over and over in your mind, “How foolish I must sound.” “What do they think of me?” “Should I even ask for forgiveness at all?” And during that time, you feel heavy with guilt. Guilt is a robber of peace because it weighs you down like a heavy blanket that you can’t lift off instantly. You feel that heaviness everywhere you go because that guilt just keeps riding on your back.
Sin is the same way in that is a heavy burden on man’s soul. The Apostle Paul described the happy state of a man whose sins are forgiven by the grace of God, not by struggling to do everything himself. A person cannot make himself right! Paul talks about the joy and lightheartedness a man feels when he is no longer carrying that blanket of guilt. “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:7-8 NIV)
How do we deal with sin and guilt? It involves the courage to allow the Word and Spirit of God to examine our hearts and our minds instead of trying to cover up or hide what is going on in our lives. Hiding from God is what brings on the heavy burden that weighs us down with distress and condemnation. But, opening up to God’s gentle touch lets us know that His gracious forgiveness will cover it. I am amazed how God receives us when we acknowledge and confess our sins to Him and ask for forgiveness. And, not only that, but He forgets it as well! It can also be just as liberating when we confess the wrong we have done to another and ask them to forgive us.
God’s takes great joy in forgiving and restoring us, but He does not take His forgiveness lightly. “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!”. (Micah 7:19 Living Translation Bible) That does not mean we can keep on doing or saying wrong things on purpose. Rather, let us stop and consider our words and actions. As we turn our weaknesses over to God, HE will strengthen us to do right, act right, and be right. It’s only through His abiding grace and love that we become overcomers in those areas of our lives that try to bog us down with feelings of guilt and unworthiness of His never-failing love for us.
“But he [Jesus] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9 NIV) “For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more. (Hebrew 8:12 NIV)
Sin is the same way in that is a heavy burden on man’s soul. The Apostle Paul described the happy state of a man whose sins are forgiven by the grace of God, not by struggling to do everything himself. A person cannot make himself right! Paul talks about the joy and lightheartedness a man feels when he is no longer carrying that blanket of guilt. “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:7-8 NIV)
How do we deal with sin and guilt? It involves the courage to allow the Word and Spirit of God to examine our hearts and our minds instead of trying to cover up or hide what is going on in our lives. Hiding from God is what brings on the heavy burden that weighs us down with distress and condemnation. But, opening up to God’s gentle touch lets us know that His gracious forgiveness will cover it. I am amazed how God receives us when we acknowledge and confess our sins to Him and ask for forgiveness. And, not only that, but He forgets it as well! It can also be just as liberating when we confess the wrong we have done to another and ask them to forgive us.
God’s takes great joy in forgiving and restoring us, but He does not take His forgiveness lightly. “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!”. (Micah 7:19 Living Translation Bible) That does not mean we can keep on doing or saying wrong things on purpose. Rather, let us stop and consider our words and actions. As we turn our weaknesses over to God, HE will strengthen us to do right, act right, and be right. It’s only through His abiding grace and love that we become overcomers in those areas of our lives that try to bog us down with feelings of guilt and unworthiness of His never-failing love for us.
“But he [Jesus] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9 NIV) “For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more. (Hebrew 8:12 NIV)