Miracle in Me: The Miracles of Daily LifeSample

Day 3 – The Miracle Of Forgiveness

Take a moment to think of the person that hurt you the most and never apologized. Maybe it was a high school significant other. Maybe it was a friend that betrayed your trust. Maybe it was a leader in a church. Maybe it was a coach. Maybe it was an abuser. Maybe it was your family.

And maybe they didn’t mean it. But maybe they did. Either doesn’t feel good as the weight of their actions, words, or maybe the absence of both sit upon your shoulders. You feel dirty, broken, uncared for, apathetic, small, too much, ugly, and fragile.

And yet, it’s in that very place that God can perform a miracle.

The song “Miracle In Me” by Red Rocks Worship has a breathtaking line in the bridge that says, “There’s power in the cross, power in Jesus’ blood.” And while Jesus’s blood is a wonderful picture of God’s forgiveness for our sins, we want to point you in the direction of a different miracle: the miracle of Jesus bending down.

We find this story in John 8, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him” (John 8:3-6).

Here was a woman who had been hurt deeply and who sinned deeply. She was being punished while her male counterpart was not. She was brought before Jesus in shame - naked and exposed. And you have to wonder how she ended up there - how did she grow up? What did she fear at this moment - death? Even more than death - a life of shame?

And this woman finds herself face to face with the God of the universe, our Savior himself. He has every right to condemn her, every right to call her sinful, and every right to stone her. But what does He do? He bends down. And when He rises to speak again, Jesus says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

And no one throws a stone. Instead, they all leave slowly. With only Jesus standing there, the One who has never committed a sin. And He chooses forgiveness.

So what does this mean for us?

It means that we can forgive those who have hurt us the most. It means that we can forgive those who have hidden behind a screen and deeply scarred us. It means that we can forgive those who should have shown up but didn’t.*

However, we cannot do this on our own. We need the blood of Christ as a consistent reminder that we can forgive because He forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). We have to pray for a heart of forgiveness that sees, even those who have sinned against us, as broken people in need of a Savior.

Pray:

Lord, give us hearts of forgiveness. We pray deeply for that. Help us to believe that there is power in the cross and in the blood of Christ. But, we can only learn to forgive by looking at you - so keep our eyes continually on you.

It’s in Your name, Amen.

*Note, forgiveness is nuanced. While you are called to forgive, in some situations, you may need to distance yourself from someone that is potentially harmful or unrepentant. Forgiveness does not mean putting yourself back in a potentially harmful position. We recommend talking to a pastor, mentor, or licensed professional to discern the next steps.