I read of a woman, Bobbie Oskarson, who recently had quite a find. While vacationing in Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park, she unearthed a diamond that weighed in at 8.52-carats. In fact, she found the stone in her second scoop of dirt… It was the fifth largest diamond ever uncovered at the park and is worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Just sitting there. For free. An immense treasure just waiting to be claimed by someone willing to dig for it.
It reminded me of forgiveness. So many times we do things in our lives that we carry for far too long. A messy past relationship taking up a corner of our brain… A lost job… a word we shouldn’t have said… a lie we were caught in. Sure, we’ve asked the offended party to forgive us, but the residue remains. We still feel guilty. We still suffer in silence. We still think about the pain we caused or the heart we broke.
We’ve even asked God to forgive us.
But we haven’t forgiven ourselves.
The Bible tells us that when we ask forgiveness from God, we are eternally separated from that mistake. Forever. God deletes it from our lives with love and mercy. Psalm 103:12 puts it this way: “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Why East and West? They never touch. Ever.
God has forgiven you for your past mistakes.
Read that again. Out loud. To yourself. Only this time, change it a little.
God has forgiven me for my past mistakes.
Feel better? Maybe not. Why? Because you think it can’t be that easy. I can assure you… it is. God’s love for us is immeasurable and complete. His forgiveness isn’t based on anything you do for Him… it comes from the overflow and abundance of love in His heart for you… His masterpiece. In His mind, it is over. Done. Never to be brought back up or thought of again. You are free from the ropes that have held your heart down for so long.
Now comes the tougher part…. The part where you have to dig a little. Right below the surface of your guilt is a gem called forgiveness of self… and it’s attainable. Reach for it. You may have to do it every hour for the first couple of days. Forgive yourself. Let it go. Allow yourself to accept the fact that God doesn’t hold it against you. In fact, try this… write these three words down on an index card. “I Am Forgiven”
Put that card someplace you’ll see it. It’ll act as a reminder of the truth.
You are forgiven.
You aren’t forgotten.
You are loved.
You aren’t left behind.
You are healed up.
You aren’t held down.
God has forgiven you for what happened. Forgive yourself. You can’t go back and change the past… you can simply learn from it and move forward. Repair what you can. Seek forgiveness from those you’ve hurt. Ask God to forgive you. And allow yourself to be free from the prison of self-imposed guilt. In our minds, we build very strong prisons that God never intended for us to live in. Unlock that cell and break free from the shackles of pain.
The diamond is sitting there… just waiting for you to pick it up. Self-forgiveness.
Make today the first day you aren’t carrying the weight of a busted past. You aren’t that person anymore. What happened then has helped sculpt you into what you are now… Would you change some things? Who wouldn’t. But you can’t. Please accept that. There’s a good reason why the windshield is much bigger than the rear view mirror in your car. Because moving forward is the goal… Will you make future mistakes? Bet on it.
Will you learn from them? Prayerfully so.
Learn and move on.
Forgive and let go.
Leave it at the cross and refuse to go back and get it. Ever.
When we figure this out… we gain what no diamond or wealth could ever give us… peace.
You can do it. Steph and I will be praying for you as you forgive and move forward.
