Forgive... Because You've Been Forgiven

Growing up in the church and having accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the age of 4, one might think I'd be fairly familiar with the concepts of repentance and offering/receiving forgiveness.

That may be true, but I've learned over the years that when you've made it a life pursuit to walk closely with the Lord, particularly in the Western church, we sometimes grow a little numb or desensitized to basic Biblical truths/principles.

Moreover, we may even adopt a mindset that is a little more like that of the Pharasees, making it easy to cast judgment on others before ourselves. That very concept means we are just as gravely in NEED of forgiveness and humbling just as much as someone who is entirely lost or never met the Lord. It's almost MORE dangerous to think you don't need the Lord or frequent forgiveness than to just be utterly unaware of its availability to you.

Thankfully, when you aim to keep your eyes on the ONE who did shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sin, so forgiveness and the gift of salvation and eternal life could be ours, He's really faithful to remind us the truth and provide opportunity for course correction! And He, thankfully, is always kind and loving about it! (Notice how I didn't say it might not still be painful...sometimes kindness hurts more because we know we don't deserve it.)

We also can't give away what we haven't received! If we lack understanding in the forgiveness offered to us, we probably lack in offering forgiveness to ourselves and/ or others. The Bible teaches that those who are forgiven much, also LOVE much!!! ❤️

So, this is certainly a challenge to myself today to ask the Lord to search me and reveal any area that requires repentance, so I can receive the forgiveness I need and then in turn have the grace to extend it to others. Unforgiveness benefits no one in the long run. It's actually a heavy load to carry, and one that doesn't serve you well in doing so!

I'm not an expert in this area, but I am committed to continuing to learn, so I can walk as freely as possible and help others to do the same!!!