Our Natural Desire For Forgiveness

Our Natural Desire For Forgiveness

Joshua Crawford

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:20)  We can look all around this world and see God’s handprint on everything.  We can see His creativity in flowers, His power in a hurricane, and His mercy in the rainbow.  We can also learn about His heart from our own relationships and mishaps with one another.

Is there a relationship in your life right now that’s struggling because something happened?  Maybe you made the mistake or the other person did.  Either way, without forgiveness, it’s terrible, isn’t it?  Living without forgiveness, even in one relationship, is hard – I’d say it’s painful!  The tension makes you tired and you feel a bit incomplete and you long for reconciliation.

This very common life struggle really reminds us of our natural need for forgiveness, between ourselves and with God.   I believe one reason God allows us to disagree with one another and make mistakes is so we’ll see just how important and necessary forgiveness is. That’s what makes the Gospel so different than any other religion in the world.  The central theme of the Bible may be forgiveness.  Colossians 1:20 says the blood of Jesus is God’s way of reconciling all things to Himself.  Think about that.  Forgiveness is so important to God that He gave up His only Son to make it possible.  If you want to know how important something is to someone, see what they’ll pay for it, right?

If God would pay the ultimate price for forgiveness, what will you pay for forgiveness today?  Just giving you a heads up, it’s probably going to cost you some pride – but the reward is peace and a renewed relationship, which is exactly what you have with God through Jesus Christ.