We often hear sermons, and I have preached sermons in which the lesson was on how to forgive others. We know that this is a command of Jesus. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and this includes forgiveness. We are to love our enemy and this includes forgiving them. The motivation for our forgiveness is the recognition that we have been forgiven by God and therefore we are to follow God’s example and forgive others. When we think about how much God has forgiven us and the small amount of sin that has been perpetrated against us in comparison, it drives us to forgive others.
But where we fall short in the area of forgiveness is in the area of forgiving ourselves. We are very much aware that we have sinned and, in some cases, sinned very egregiously. And we know that God has forgiven us. We even quote the passage from Psalm 103.12 that is in the picture. But let me give you more of the verses leading up to that quote. “8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever 10He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
God is compassionate and gracious. This is why he forgives us. Unlike us He is slow to become angry but is overflowing in His love for us. This is why He forgives us. And the reason that He does not always accuse us or give us the judgment that we deserve is because Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of all of our sins and in so doing, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Jeremiah 31.34, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
But we keep remembering our sins. We keep bringing them up in our minds. We can’t let go of them. We can’t forgive ourselves for those sins we have committed or those things we have not done that we should have done. And so, the saying in the picture is a good one. And so the challenge for us is, stop remembering what God has forgotten.
In Christ Alone
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