God's Love & Forgiveness
About a year ago I read this book called 'The Shack'. The book is about a man named Mack, whose daughter is murdered and he has complete hate in his heart for the man who killed his daughter, named Missy. In 'The Shack', Mack comes face to face with God (Who is called "Papa").
Here is a little dialogue between Papa (God) and Mack:
"How can I ever forgive the man who killed my Missy. If he were here today, I don't know what I would do. I know it isn't right, but I want him to hurt like he hurt me...If I can't get justice, I still want revenge."
Papa simply let the torrent rush out of Mack, waiting for the wave to pass.
"Mack, for you to forgive this man is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him."
"Redeem him?" Again Mack felt the fire of anger and hurt. "I don't want you to redeem him! I want you to hurt him, to punish him, to put him in hell..." His voice trailed off.
Papa waited patiently for the emotions to ease.
"I'm stuck, Papa. I just can't forget what he did, can I?" Mack implored.
"Forgiveness is not about forgetting, Mack. It is about letting go of another person's throat."
"But I thought you forget our sins?"
"Mack, I am God. I forget nothing. I know everything. So forgetting for me is the choice to limit myself. Son," Papa's voice got quiet and Mack looked up at him, directly into his deep brown eyes, "because of Jesus, there is now no law demanding that I bring your sins back to mind. They are gone when it comes to you and me, and they run no interference in our relationship."
"But this man..."
"But he too is my son. I want to redeem him."
"So what then? I just forgive him and everything is okay, and we become buddies?" Mack stated softly but sarcastically.
"You don't have a relationship with this man, at least not yet. Forgiveness does not establish a relationship. In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose a relationship. Mackenzie, don't you see that forgiveness is an incredible power - a power you share with us, a power Jesus gives to all whom he indwells so that reconciliation can grow? When Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross they were no longer in his debt, nor mine. In my relationship with those men, I will never bring up what they did, or shame them, or embarrass them."
After I read this book I gained more of an understanding of God's grace and forgiveness for us. You see, even though that man, that horribly screwed up man, had killed an innocent little girl God still loved him. God still WANTED to forgive him and give him redemption. Why? Because that man was still God's son and no matter what he had done, including killing that little girl, God still loved him and forgave him. It's the same with us. No matter what we do God still loves and forgives us. Because we too are God's children.
People seem to categorize sins and I'm just astonished by that. People think that if you do a certain thing that you instantly become unforgivable and unlovable. Those people couldn't be any more wrong.
Ephesians 2:3-6 says, "All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."
God's everlasting, never ending, grace and mercy for us is astounding. I'm just amazed at how much God really loves each and every one of us. God's love and grace is so incomprehensible that it drives me mad at times, because I just can't grasp the kind of love that he has for us.
And that's just the thing guys, we will never be able to understand the kind of love that God has for us. But you have to realize, that it doesn't matter what you've done, what you're doing, or what you will do in years to come. You have to realize that it doesn't matter if you've killed someone, like the man in 'The Shack', or if you've just lied to someone. You have to realize and truly understand that it doesn't matter what you've done. No matter what you've done God will ALWAYS love you. God will ALWAYS forgive you. God is crazy about you. He's so crazy about you that he will forgive you no matter what you've done.
A few months ago I was at this point in my life where I thought all hope was lost for me. I thought that God couldn't possibly love me. That God just didn't have grace for me. That God could NEVER forgive someone like me. But one night, at church, I was praying. And it was like I could hear God talking to me. Saying, "It doesn't matter what you've done. I don't care that you've done those things. You're still my daughter and I will always love you no matter what. I forgive you." And that's when it really clicked; I had finally gotten it. I finally understood what God had been trying to tell me for the past 6 years.
So just know that God loves you. He forgives you. And his grace for you is real.
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