Greetings to you, dear friends! Grace and peace to you from Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ! We are still talking about the impact of God’s forgiveness on our lives. We have established that:
- God’s forgiveness annuls our debts.
- Forgiveness gives us strength to walk our daily walk.
- Forgivenessgives us an access to God’s inheritance with the saints.
- Forgiveness renews in us the joy of salvation.
- Forgiveness softens our hearts towards other people.
Today we will discuss one more aspect of God’s forgiveness in a person’s life.
- God’s forgiveness delivers us from the feelings of guilt.
«I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, „I will confess my transgression to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin» (Psalm, 32:5).
«Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God» (1 John, 3:21).
Sin makes us feel guilty, and guilt robs a person of his confidence and makes his faith ineffective. When the heart is filled with condemnation, no person can be sure to receive any answer from God. When God feels guilty, then he accepts all negative things in life as something unavoidable. He starts thinking that he deserves these bad things, so he is not capable to fight against them or to accept the good. We see this happening in the life of Joseph’s brothers:
«Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter» (Genesis, 42:21-23).
Guilt not only robs a person of the confidence, but it also strengthens the feelings of unworthiness. Forgiveness takes it all away.
- Forgiveness delivers a person from his past.
Our past influences us in a great way. It is possible we learn something from the things that happened in our past, but we cannot run away from it. We can try to forget our past, but we can’t change it. Our history is an inseparable part of our lives. We can only be delivered from the negative influence of our past through God’s forgiveness. Let’s look at the lives of Jacob’s sons who sold their brother Joseph into slavery. This story haunted these men their whole life. Even when Joseph told them that he had forgiven them, they still experienced fear and couldn’t be free from their past. These feelings peeked when their father died. Brothers were sure that now Joseph would repay them for all of the things they had done to them and would have his revenge. Only repeated reassurances from Joseph brought them true freedom. This miracle is possible only through forgiveness:
« When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, „Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, „Before your father died he commanded, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: „I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, „Behold, we are your servants.” Joseph said to them, „Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them» (Genesis, 50:15-21).
Great freedom came into the hearts of these people after they heard from Joseph: “YOU ARE FORGIVEN!” Some events in our lives point out to the mistakes and sins of the past, but through forgiveness we can gain freedom from all the consequences and influence of the past happenings. We must understand and practice the power and benefits of forgiveness. It is a great privilege to be forgiven! Blessed is the man whose sins and debts have been forgiven! Talk to you tomorrow through „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! God bless you and your loved ones! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
