Before You ForgiveSample

The first step in forgiving is facing your sin and brokenness. The second step is seeking and accepting God's forgiveness.

Peter experienced the Father's mercy when he walked with Jesus. He jumped out of the boat with all his clothes on and swam towards Jesus. Peter pursued Jesus, even though he knew that he'd blown it. He sensed that Jesus loved him, but Peter was likely nervous as they began walking.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus repeated Himself three times? "Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" Perhaps Jesus repeated Himself because Peter had denied Him three times. Maybe Jesus wanted Peter to know that He forgave each of those denials.

Remember Keller's summary of what the Gospel announces earlier in this plan? "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."

The Gospel gives you hope because you know where you stand without it. Even on our worst days, we are loved and known. You must receive forgiveness from God to be able to give it. Otherwise, you're just giving it out of your strength.

Have you been hurt and wounded so deeply that you don't have the strength in and of yourself to forgive somebody for that? You need forgiveness that's bigger than you! You need the forgiveness that can only come from God. Forgiveness is not something you can do on your own. Because if it were, you would have done it by now!

Have you been struggling with forgiveness for a long time and wondered, "What's wrong with me?" There's nothing wrong with you. You weren't meant to be the source of this forgiveness; it has to come from God.

Remember the definition of forgiveness I shared earlier in the plan. "Forgiveness is letting go of my pursuit of revenge and trusting God to bring justice."

In the same way that our ability to forgive is connected to the forgiveness we've received, our inability to receive forgiveness will result in our inability to forgive. If we cannot accept God's forgiveness for ourselves, how can we believe that God will forgive someone who hurt us? We must believe He can forgive us before we can forgive others.

Later in life, Peter would be beaten, arrested, imprisoned, and crucified upside down. How was he prepared to forgive those people? Because after he betrayed Jesus, he accepted Jesus' forgiveness.

Today, I encourage you to wrestle with this question throughout your day. "What if you began believing that what God says is truer than your feelings?"

In Psalm 103, we read about how God has separated our sin from us as far as the East is from the West. In Romans 8, Paul declares that there is no longer any condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

If you're struggling to receive Jesus' forgiveness, the challenge is to believe what He says. God really does love you, and you are free from shame today!

On the final day of the plan, we'll tackle a topic that has caused many people I know to stumble. I want to help you overcome this obstacle!