Marriage and Family Life Reading PlanSample

Embracing Forgiveness

It is important to know that if you or your mate has confessed to God some past failures, they are completely forgiven. The Bible unequivocally declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Nevertheless, some believers find it hard to grasp that Christ took all the punishment they deserve. Even though Jesus did pay the total price for all our sins, many of us still feel shame, and so constantly replay mental images of past mistakes. The guilt can seem overpowering, especially when we see the long-term results of our selfish choices.

Let me encourage you to play a key role in nudging your spouse toward embracing God’s forgiveness. You and your spouse may want to consider memorizing Romans 8:1 together. You have the great privilege of reminding your mate of what God has done for us—no matter what we have done.

I recall one occasion early in our marriage when I was struggling with feeling shame because of some earlier mistakes. My wife was the one who reminded me of the truth, and who exhorted me to believe it. In fact, she firmly said to me, “Are you saying that God lied when He said ‘There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’?” She went on to encourage me to believe the truth and not to deny it.

As Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13, 14). Leave the past in the past, and choose to believe what God’s Word says is true, instead of believing your feelings!