Devotions on forgiveness from Gary Thomas’ book Embracing the Love of God

Peter van Breeman said, “When we really accept God’s acceptance and believe that it is without limits, then we can express our guilt.”

When we really know we are loved unconditionally by God then we have the freedom to explore our dark side. Otherwise we are paralyzed by the fear of rejection and keep our sins hidden. When we are able by God’ grace to bring our sins to the light, we see that they lose their power. That’s why the enemy wants us to keep from confessing and sharing our struggles with God or with one another.  The enemy tells us we are the only one who struggles or that we shouldn’t fall to temptation since we are Christians. But knowing and loving the Lord does not make us immune, for we all struggle with the conflict between the spirit and the flesh. It is good to know we are not alone in our struggles or we will end up hiding from the One who wants to heal and forgive us.  God is a forgiving God and at the heart of God is the desire to give and forgive.  NO matter what we do wrong, He is always there to welcome us back, forgive us and desire nothing other than our presence. His sacrifice on the cross frees us, and we need only to accept that forgiveness that cannot be earned.  He forgives us even when we don’t forgive ourselves or before we even ask.  Let us invite Him to begin working on what has been tripping us up so that we can live in closer union with Him.