Gifts From God: Devotions From Time of GraceNäide

Gifts From the Spirit

Some of the most precious things in our lives are invisible. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there. We depend completely on gravity, electromagnetic radiation, and air to live, and yet you can’t see any of them. In the next few devotions are five precious gifts from God that you can experience but can’t see, coming from a Spirit whom you can’t see either, but whose patient work is very evident in the changed lives of believers.

Forgiveness

Some of life’s miseries are pretty obvious--a car that’s rusty and broken down, rotting porch steps, cockroaches, arthritic hands, and an empty checkbook. Far worse, though, are invisible miseries. One of those is guilt. The past is unchangeable, and your mind can replay over and over evil things you have thought, spoken, and done. Your conscience condemns you and keeps you locked in those bad feelings. Try as you might, you cannot get rid of that bag of guilt and you drag it around behind you wherever you go.

But Jesus Christ lived your life for you and died your death for you. God has declared you no longer guilty, and so you aren’t any more! St. Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That invisible promise changes your status with him. It also changes your insides. God likes and accepts you. You can forgive yourself and like yourself again. And you now have a reservoir of goodwill to be patient and forgiving with the other foolish sinners around you.