Many of us can identify with the love and compassion that God has for His children, but some may have a difficult time grasping His ability to forgive us. A lot of this comes from the fact that when we forgive someone we generally do not forget the incident. In fact, if conflict arises again in our relationships, then human nature kicks in and we mention the past — even though we forgave the other person for what he or she did. We have to stop trying to confine God’s behavior by our understanding of human nature. We are created in God’s image, but that does not mean that He acts the way we do. Aren’t you glad?
Once we confess our sin to God, not only does He forgive us, but He forgets, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12 NIV). I heard one time that it is mentioned as far as the east from the west, instead of north and south, because east and west never meet on the globe. You can travel east and never hit west, whereas you can only go so far north and then you are heading south or vice versa. God is not going to bring up our past sins. We are to ask for forgiveness, give the sin to God, change our behavior and then move on. Do not keep carrying the sin with you. Remember, part of our identity in Christ is that we are forgiven. The Enemy will try and dig up our past in order to keep us down and defeated. However, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Not only does God’s love and compassion have no limits, but so does His forgiveness. No matter how many times we mess up and get off track, Christ will forgive us and let us begin again.
God gives us the opportunities for “do-overs.” It does not matter where we failed the day before. Simply give it all to God and not only will He take care of it, but He will forget our past failures and give us grace each and every day. Because of our salvation, we are new creations. Our past is just that, the past. We can move on from that point, behaving in contrast to our former lives because we are made new. We are new creations, not just at the time of our salvation, but with each new day. Do not let the Enemy try and steal this from you and drag you down into a pit of despair. God’s mercy, forgiveness and love are ready to be poured out on each of us every single day. I encourage us to remember this when we see the sun first peeking over the horizon tomorrow, that it is a new day and we have the chance to start fresh. Take down the mask, no one expects us to be perfect or have it all together. Pretending just keeps others at bay or leads to their own insecurities because their lives are not all together. The good news is that God’s grace and mercy are new every morning. That knowledge can ease the desire we have to hide behind a façade. Let everyone see the real you.
If you would like more information about learning to take off your mask and let your true identity in Christ shine through, I encourage you to find out more about my book, Get REAL: Stop Hiding Behind the Mask, on my website, www.jamywhitaker.com or on my facebook page, www.facebook.com/AuthorJamyWhitaker.
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Jamy Whitaker graduated with a degree in English from Indiana State University. She lives in Indiana, in a picturesque, rural setting, lovingly referred to as Whit-Akers, with her husband and five children. Visit www.jamywhitaker.org to learn more about Jamy, her writing and speaking.
