AS FORGIVEN BY CHRIST!

“…even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:13).

Citing Christ as the model, Paul the Apostle points out that you have to forgive and forget as Christ did. 

Christ forgives and forgets your sins. What a great blessing it is! You escape the curse as He forgives and forgets. You are also protected from the judgment. Dear children of God, Jesus Christ is so kind to forgive you with love and He also poured out all His blood to wash and cleanse you. So, come forward wholeheartedly to confess your sins and receive His forgiveness.

The Scripture says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Try to understand why God says ‘As far as the east is from the west’. He did not mention south or north here. The reason is that if you proceed northwards, there is north pole and one can calculate the distance between the place of departure and the north pole. In the same way, the south pole is there in the southern end to make the calculation easy. But if one proceeds eastwards or westwards there will not be a destination and the travel will be endless, since the earth is in the shape of a sphere. Like this, God takes away your sins to such a distance and forgets them too. 

Once, a teacher of Geography was speaking about the depth of various oceans. When he said that the Pacific Ocean is five miles deep, a Christian student raised his voice and said ‘Hallelujah’ and the teacher turned towards him. 

The student said, “Sir, I read in the Bible that Jesus Christ has thrown my sins into the sea. You told that the Pacific Ocean is five miles deep. I get greatly excited when I think of the blessing that God has thrown the sins to the deep oceans and has also forgotten them”.

Yes, God forgives your sins and forgets too. Do you also forgive and forget the sins of others in that way? Some people forgive but they do not forget. They always keep that bitterness in a corner of their thoughts. But only when you forgive and forget the sins of others, Jesus Christ will descend joyfully to dwell with you. He is merciful in forgiving. Is it not? Dear children of God, forgive and forget.  

To meditate: “And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).