She listened closely to the Sunday School teacher’s opinion about what she had done. He didn’t know there was someone present who fit his bill of implications, and she wasn’t sure she agreed.
The young lady and her family were our good friends, but we didn’t know her secret either. The teacher’s rampage was against abortion, period. We learned later our friend had had one to save her life. Now she was caught between the opinion of a well meaning young man who thought he had it all figured out and her understanding of God’s forgiveness. Was she free or still in bondage; useful to God or useless to anyone?
For her it was a quiet abortion. For others it might be murder, theft, jail, drugs, alcohol, extortion, extramarital affairs, pornography, or just stinking thinking. Sins nevertheless.
The question is whether God has canceled my sin debt or still dangles it over my head. If I’ve confessed, should I forget it or still beat myself up over it?
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV), so God says. God’s everlasting love leads to everlasting forgiveness, but when I hold on to what God has released I set myself up for anxiety, depression and misery.
God hates sin but not sinners. Failure to realize this allows false guilt to intrude-guilt we still feel even after asking God’s forgiveness. Being a prisoner of our past stifles our present and future usefulness.
I once worried about things in my past; whether God had really forgiven me or how I could do some of the things I did and still be a Christian. That’s before I completely understood God’s grace. The past is the past, my debt is canceled, and my future is bright. So is yours.
Understanding God’s complete forgiveness frees us to serve him and others with a clear conscience. Others may attempt to chain you, but God never will.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the forgiveness that empowers us to live with confidence and vitality.