Forgiveness and Obedience

Forgiveness is a gift of God’s grace that we absolutely did not deserve. We are forgiven, so we must forgive others and ourselves. It allows us to accept the unconditional agape love of God, and accept that we have been adopted into God’s family and that we have hope for the future. The book of Ephesians 1:4-8 says this:

“Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children—this was his pleasure and purpose. Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son! For by the blood of Christwe are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure!

Therefore, in order for us to walk in true obedience to God and flourish in our spiritual life again, we must walk in forgiveness daily. This can be done by:

1. Receiving the gift of forgiveness from God.

2. Believing that we have been already forgiven.

3. Obeying his Word when he instructs us to forgive others.

If the Bible says that in Christ we have forgiveness of all our sins, then, He expects us to offer this forgiveness to others and to ourselves. The past is the past, you must forgive yourself, once and for all. When we obey and do this, we can feel the joy, and the peace of being redeemed, forgiven, and set free, forever. Not just for a while, but for all eternity. That’s the beauty of the sacrifice of God, it was once and for all. It is still valid. So, with that same freedom, the next step of obedience that we must take is to forgive those who have hurt us or ask forgiveness from the ones we have offended. When we do this, we are removing ourselves as well as releasing them from the evil that they did to us.

God is waiting for you to decide today to walk in true obedience to his Word; and in response to His love- for you to be healed, forgiven, and restored.

As we saw in the parable of the prodigal son, God rejoices when one of His children, who had been lost, returns home, receives His forgiveness, and obeys because of agape love.

Reflection:

In your moment of intimacy with God, take a pencil and a piece of paper, begin to answer each of the following questions, and allow God, by his Holy Spirit, to whisper into your heart His answers for you.

• What might God be trying to show you through your obedience?
• Do you feel and believe that you have been forgiven by God?
• Confess your past mistakes and ask for prayer from a spiritual person you can trust that won’t judge... and start over. It’s time to bloom again!