It sure is nice to hear the words, “I’m sorry”, and equally nice to say it.
We have all been there. Times when we had done something that hurt someone, or someone had hurt us, later mended by a simple apology. So often though, the consequences of actions can leave some pretty devastating results, and the sorry is received with slight, or many times, great hesitation. If the damage is very severe, our apologies may not be accepted.
Do you know what is so great about our Lord? His forgiveness is paramount, and it trumps our ability to forgive in unmeasurable multitudes! If we are sorry when we hurt the Lord, He promises to forgive…
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
– Psalm 103 (ESV)
A healthy fear, or a deep and passionate respect, is the way of a child and his or her parent. For without the parent, the child would perish. That same need for the parent is in relation to our need of the Lord.
May we love Him as He loves us!!
We don’t always obey our parents as we walk through the different stages of life. We don’t always say we are sorry to those we have wronged, and sometimes we sure don’t receive the apology we deserve. We sure are opposed to His ways at times within this nasty flesh and bone. But our Lord, rich in His mercy and grace for the undeserving, knew we would fail. We have all had those times when sorry failed to be mentioned. Our Lord, our forgiving Lord, even loves us beyond measure when we fail to forgive! He sure does.
But why on Earth should we feel the bitterness and sorrows within when we don’t forgive?
Not forgiving dulls the heart, robs the joy and kills the soul (Matt 18:21-22, Ephesians 4:32, 2 Corinthians 2:5-8). Seventy times seven means far more, but never less than, forgiving each time you are wronged. It means to forgive offenses to completion even if that means a daily, or even hourly decision to let the debt go. We have to forgive in relationships, and within the relationship between us and our good Father.
The other party may stay bitter, not sorry and hateful. But we, as His forgiven children, must forgive. It allows His Spirit more room to fill us with His fruits. Tossing out the rotted fruit of the flesh within our prideful selves. Harboring the rot only creates hesitation to say, “I’m sorry.”
Let it go. Say you’re sorry. Move forward and be renewed. If someone is not sorry for their hurt towards you, clean up your end of the hurt by forgiving them in your heart. Our hearts belong to Him, and not the sin of unforgiveness.
May we all see just how FORGIVEN we are as we look to His finished work at the cross, and allow Holy Spirit to bear the contrite heart within us.
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