Who Am I? I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
| Colossians 1:13-14 | I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. |
13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,a]" class="footnote">[a]" class="footnote">aa]" class="footnote">] the forgiveness of sins.
I never really examined this scripture before. When I was lost in my sins, I never saw myself as needing rescuing. I actually saw the life that the legalists lived as torture....too many can'ts. Can't do this...can't do that. Ironically, the can'ts were things I never quite saw, or still see, as sins. I choose not to do a lot of those can'ts anymore, but I did not need rescuing from those things.
I needed rescuing from Hell, and Satan's control over my mind and behavior. Being part of His kingdom gives me freedom to choose obedience. Prior to my redemption, I had no choice. I sinned. Period.
Now that I am redeemed, I have forgiveness. Mom never forgave me for anything I did. Forgiveness was a foreign concept for me. I have been a believer for over thirty years, and only recently have been able to comprehend what forgiveness is about.
Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Hi, Trish.
I love these verses, and I'm so grateful to be part of the ones who can answer, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so"!
Forgiveness of sins--that phrase wells up in me with such emotion. I know how unworthy I am of forgiveness, yet God gives to all men and women liberally. All they have to do is turn to the Cross, turn to Jesus, and accept the gift of eternal life. Amazing!
We who believe have been given such an amazing gift, and it's a gift we can keep but must give away. We must tell others. Each person is bound for an eternity somewhere. Do we care where?
The Lord has blessed me with the privilege of leading some people to the Lord, over the past 40 years that I've known Him. It is such a miracle, each time. One of the more recent sharings resulted in the salvation of a precious gal who grew up Catholic, but as she tells it, even though she attended mass and did all the the rituals, she was lost. She didn't know she was lost, but she knew that there was an emptiness in her life. She searched for years, and now she wonders how many believers crossed her path but said nothing. When she realized that had she died, she would have gone to Hell, she was so broken. God preserved her life, though, and now she has Jesus in her heart and is bound for Heaven. It has been amazing to watch her grow in the Lord and in His Word. Just amazing. She is precious, and Jesus shines through her--well, through her voice, which is all I know, since she lives so far away.
We who love much do so because we have been forgiven much. Isn't that true? Now, we must practice forgiveness in our own lives. We will be challenged often to forgive those who don't deserve it, remembering that we did nothing to deserve forgiveness ourselves. We will be challenged, perhaps, to forgive the unforgivable, but we must. If we do not, we will be the one to suffer. I can testify to that. Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. It does not mean that we condone what was done to us. It means that we have decided to move on, to move forward, away from the pain of the past. The ability to forgive is, in itself, a gift from God.
God forgives us, and we must forgive one another. Finally, we must forgive ourselves. I can't tell you how many times I've counseled with someone who "just can't forgive [herself]." If someone is reading this and saying, "Yes. That's me. I just can't forgive myself," with all the love I have, I say to you that if you cannot forgive yourself, you are, in essence, saying that the Blood of Jesus, shed on the Cross, was not enough. It was enough. It is enough. It's time to hear Jesus say, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." Forgive yourself, and go forward, walking in the Light of Forgiveness.
Blessings,
Mary
I love these verses, and I'm so grateful to be part of the ones who can answer, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so"!
Forgiveness of sins--that phrase wells up in me with such emotion. I know how unworthy I am of forgiveness, yet God gives to all men and women liberally. All they have to do is turn to the Cross, turn to Jesus, and accept the gift of eternal life. Amazing!
We who believe have been given such an amazing gift, and it's a gift we can keep but must give away. We must tell others. Each person is bound for an eternity somewhere. Do we care where?
The Lord has blessed me with the privilege of leading some people to the Lord, over the past 40 years that I've known Him. It is such a miracle, each time. One of the more recent sharings resulted in the salvation of a precious gal who grew up Catholic, but as she tells it, even though she attended mass and did all the the rituals, she was lost. She didn't know she was lost, but she knew that there was an emptiness in her life. She searched for years, and now she wonders how many believers crossed her path but said nothing. When she realized that had she died, she would have gone to Hell, she was so broken. God preserved her life, though, and now she has Jesus in her heart and is bound for Heaven. It has been amazing to watch her grow in the Lord and in His Word. Just amazing. She is precious, and Jesus shines through her--well, through her voice, which is all I know, since she lives so far away.
We who love much do so because we have been forgiven much. Isn't that true? Now, we must practice forgiveness in our own lives. We will be challenged often to forgive those who don't deserve it, remembering that we did nothing to deserve forgiveness ourselves. We will be challenged, perhaps, to forgive the unforgivable, but we must. If we do not, we will be the one to suffer. I can testify to that. Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. It does not mean that we condone what was done to us. It means that we have decided to move on, to move forward, away from the pain of the past. The ability to forgive is, in itself, a gift from God.
God forgives us, and we must forgive one another. Finally, we must forgive ourselves. I can't tell you how many times I've counseled with someone who "just can't forgive [herself]." If someone is reading this and saying, "Yes. That's me. I just can't forgive myself," with all the love I have, I say to you that if you cannot forgive yourself, you are, in essence, saying that the Blood of Jesus, shed on the Cross, was not enough. It was enough. It is enough. It's time to hear Jesus say, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." Forgive yourself, and go forward, walking in the Light of Forgiveness.
Blessings,
Mary
"Don't tell God how big your storm is; tell your storm how BIG your God is!"
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